Helaena
by All My Love. M
Summary: Extremely AU: She was Queen now, and by the Gods Helaena was going to rule. Even if it means taking everything with Fire and Blood. She was, after all, the last Targaryen in Westeros. Jaime/OC (eventual)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello Everyone! This is my very first GOT fic and I'm so excited to show it to you all. It is one of two that I have in mind of starting and I'm super nervous because Westeros/ George R. R. Martin's world is a big world and I don't want to get anything historically (LOL) wrong. So these updates are definitely going to come slow (maybe once a month?) because I have to do a lot of fact checking in order to get this done. If any of you are super familiar with GOT and want to beta for me please let me know (I basically put a help wanted ad on my profile lol)! Otherwise here is Helaena, I hope you guys like her. Please R &R and let me know what you think! **

**P.S. If you can't tell this is extremely AU and also Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT HELAENA!**

 **xoxo**

 **M**

 **UPDATE 2018: I've been working on rewriting parts of this story and so I would love if you guys would look over it all again as we go through this journey. I've fixed a few grammar errors, added a couple plot points that I thought was missing and details I thought would be essential. Let me know what you think!**

"Rhaegar, you're an absolute fool! What were you thinking?" Helaena slapped her brother across the face, of all the people in the Seven Kingdoms she was the only one who could possibly treat the Heir Apparent as if he was just a normal man.

A hand pressed to his cheek to cool the stinging, Rhaegar glared at his twin but did not retaliate. Years of living with Helaena had taught Rhaegar to pick and choose his battles, especially with the way that the Princess was prone to acts of physical violence when displeased. "I love her," The Prince insisted fervently, believing with every part of his soul that he did, in fact, love Lyanna Stark.

"You have a lady wife—do you know what kind of shame you've brought upon Elia? Good, sweet Elia? Not to mention what kind of insult you've just gave House Martell, and let us not event speak of House Baratheon! Robert will have your head—Prince or not!" pacing about her chambers, Helaena was filled with trepidation and fury as to what consequences Rhaegar's actions could wrought. Her idiot twin brother just had to go and think with his cock instead of his head-again.

"Robert won't do anything to me. I'm the Prince and Heir, the future King of Westeros. If he knows what's good for him, he'll concede and find another wife," the confidence that radiated in Rhaegar's statement annoyed Helaena so much and she couldn't help but stare at her brother, wondering how she could possibly be twins with such a complete fool.

Helaena scoffed derisively, "Obviously you do not know Robert," running a hand through her hair and dragging it down her face in exhaustion, the Princess could feel the weight of all that had happened settle deeply into her bones, "And you have Elia, Rhaenys and Aegon. Have you thought of your children at all? What this will do to them?"

The question was met with silence and Helaena had her answer. Disappointment filled the Princess, having always thought better of her brother—at the very least when it concerned his children, the little persons that he held above all others, that which he loved the most. Casting another glare at her brother, Helaena sighed once again.

"Picky any whore, any servant. That at least would have been tolerated, appropriate even—but no, not for Rhaegar Targaryen. Of all the people to choose to be your mistress, why would you pick a lady of a Great House? The kind of unrest this could cause, when Father's actions are already causing turmoil," Helaena yelled once again, anger boiling over in her body and erupting at her brother, "You are a Prince! Act like a Prince!" she scolded severely, striding over to where Rhaegar was standing and striking him across the face once again—huffing harshly in frustration.

"Helaena," Rhaegar pleaded for his twin sister to understand. Of all the people in King's Landing, in the Seven Kingdoms, his sister had always been his confidante and closest companion. He needed her to understand him now. All the rules, all the politics, the arranged marriage, the battles—the only thing Rhaegar wanted was to play his lyre and lay in a field with Lyanna Stark, whose Northern ways and Northern beauty were like a breath of fresh air in comparison to the cesspool that was King's Landing.

But of course, Helaena didn't understand. She lived and thrived off the machinations of all the men and women around her, wanted to surround herself in politics, having learnt everything at the knee of Grandfather and Father. And besides that, Helaena had been fostered in the Vale with Robert and Ned for a couple years while she was still growing—the ways of the North weren't exotic to her. Winterfell was a place frequently visited by the Princess to see her precious friend Eddard Stark—who she sometimes treated far more kindly than her own brother—something Rhaegar was always quick to point out when the twins were in a fight with each other.

"Helaena, stop. I love Lyanna, but we can still go through with our plans. We can still stop father. My relationship with her doesn't change anything. If we leave Father alone for too long, he'll burn the whole Kingdom down," trying to reason with his sister was almost impossible, like reasoning with a storm while it was terrorizing its way through a town. But if there was anyone who could do it, it would be Rhaegar.

"Our plans," Helaena rolled her eyes, "Do you really think we can continue? When all the world saw what you did? Public support won't be with us thanks to you and your actions—you absolute cunt of a man," Helaena screamed into the room in fury—causing Rhaegar to flinch—the Prince, while knowing that Helaena would never actually severely harm him, was still very much afraid of his sister's temper, which had begun to be known was renowned amongst the select few that even knew about it.

"If I wouldn't be caught and put to trial, I would strangle you now, set you in flames, have you drawn and quartered. What will make you see sense brother?" glaring menacingly, Helaena and Rhaegar locked gazes—neither backing down.

Usually, during these times, whenever they were growing up, Rhaegar was the one to fold first. Nearly always, the Prince would bow to his sister's wishes, allowing her to get her way—mostly because she would argue to the point where he wouldn't be able to argue back—having never been that passionate about anything except maybe his lyre. But this time was different, this time his heart was fully invested and he wanted Lyanna Stark.

"I'm sorry Helaena, maybe one day you'll understand," Rhaegar whispered brokenly before turning on his heels and leaving his sister's chambers.

Fist clenched at her sides and anger bubbling in her, making Helaena feel like she was going to burst, the Princess screamed once again and began throwing her possessions around the room. Eventually her ladies in waiting would be brave enough to come in, but right now wasn't the time—when Helaena was in the middle of an explosion. Later, the would come in and when they did, the mess would take hours to clear up and fix.

Eventually, Helaena would calm down and search for her brother again. When she had a clear head and was ready to speak and try to convince him to her way. She was dead set on stopping Rhaegar from committing the biggest mistake that would set back their plans by months if not a full year. But by the time Helaena would re-emerge into the world, it would be too late, as Rhaegar would have gone out hunting and therefore not available to listen to her reason with him. And on that hunt, he would meet up with Lyanna Stark, and that would set off a chain of events Helaena had predicted but never thought would actually come true.

…

The very last time Helaena saw her father, he had been burning the Starks for treason. The man cackling in his madness as the fire engulfed the Lords of the Great House of Stark. If Winter was Truly Coming, then none of these men would live to tell the tale. Everyone had taken to avoiding her father after that, for fear of incurring his wrath in any way. No one was safe. No one.

But now, the Mad King Aerys was lying dead at Jaime Lannister's feet—the knight of her father's Kingsguard sitting casually upon the throne as if he had no care in the world. Helaena tried to find it in her to care. And the moment Jaime laid eyes on Helaena and Ned as they walked into the throne room, he leapt to his feet—as if the action would absolve him of his crimes. It caused the Princess to almost laugh, but her face remained stoic and blank and she made her way forward.

Jaime tensed. The Lannister was expecting Helaena to grab Ned Stark's sword, run at him, and plunge him in the chest in retaliation. After all, the Princess had been trained (upon the instruction of her father) by the best knights of his Kingsguard in order to learn how to properly handle a sword, and if need be, properly execute a man. Instead, the Princess stood there impassively, her eyes scanning the very dead body of her father, blood soaking the clothes of the King's back where he had been stabbed by his own Kingsguard.

"How convenient," was the only vague comment Helaena provided before she started walking toward Jaime. Her dress swishing at her heels and beginning to stain with blood as the Princess made her way passed the dead bodies and headed for the throne. She glanced down dispassionately at the corpses for a brief moment, before looking back up, her eyes locked on the throne that Jaime now stood next to.

"Look Ned," Helaena called to her foster brother as she stopped to stand besides Jaime, who was fidgeting slightly as Helaena got closer to him "We have our very own kingslayer," The Princess seemed to contemplate this for a second, "Would you like that to be your name? Kingslayer?"

"Sound appropriate," Robert's voice boomed into the air as he burst into the throne room, dragging a body by the hair behind him, "Kingslayer should be the only name you are called now Lannister," at the appearance of Robert, Jaime flinched at the moniker that he would no doubt now be forever known by.

Helaena watched as Robert walked in, the air of grim victory surrounding him as the Lord of House Baratheon approached her, the body of the man he was dragging being pulled behind him and presented at her feet. The Princess instantly recognized the familiar colour of silver, after all it was the exact same silver hair that graced the top of her own head. "Is that my dear brother?"

The eldest Baratheon shrugged, after all but throwing the body at Helaena's feet, Robert took a step up so that he was next to Helaena—their eyes meeting in almost silent understanding. "I'm not going to say sorry, if that's what you're looking for," Robert was still filled with rage, and every part of him yearned to be with Lyanna. But he had also made a promise to Helaena, and he wasn't going to be the reason why their plans failed—no matter what his heart wanted.

Rolling her shoulders back from the tension that was building there, Helaena allowed a small smile to grace her lips before bending down to look at her brother's beaten body. He looked different now. The famed silver-haired prince of Westeros—known for his looks and his grace in the battlefield, as well as his skills with a lyre—lying in front of his twin sister…lifeless and dull when he used to only vibrate with energy. Oddly enough, in that moment, Helaena felt nothing, "I told you so," the jab was childish but the Princes couldn't help it. She had been right. And Rhaegar hadn't listened. He never did. And look what ended up happening to him.

"Stand back Robert," at the stern command, the Baratheon backed up and watched as Helaena stood and walked toward the torches on the wall of the throne room. She seemed to take a second, contemplating her next action, before grabbing one of the torches and making her way back over to her brother's dead body. All the men watched her silently and with bated breadth to see what she would do.

"See what happens when you defy me my dear, sweet brother?" Helaena dropped the torch onto her brother's body and watched as the flames licked his clothes and began to set him aflame. "Fire and blood."

All the men in the room gasped, startled and astonished at the Princess's actions. Watching as the flames surrounded Rhaegar's body, they turned his skin dark, flaking it off from the flesh and eventually melting everything off the bone. Helaena stared at her brother's body, the pool of blood that had surrounded it soaking the bottom of her skirts, and came up with only one conclusion. The Prince Rhaegar, Heir to the Seven Kingdoms and House Targaryen, was not a true dragon.

With her eyes cast toward the throne, Helaena envisioned all that her and her father had talked about when she was just a little girl, before he had gone mad. All that was promised to her, despite the unfortunate result of her sex. Turning back to Robert, Helaena looked contemplative for a moment—as if trying to decide how to proceed after the ultimate goal had been won. "It seems like I'm the last dragon in King's Landing," walking up to Robert, Helaena passed her brother's burning body and looked up at the Baratheon lord expectantly, "Well, are you going to bend the knee?"

The Baratheon contemplated the order for a second before following his impulse as always and getting on his knee, eyes firmly on the ground. He had grown alongside Helaena for a brief period of time, trusted her above any other Targaryen, any other person really save maybe Ned, and the Lord of the Stormlands knew that she would be great. "I, Robert of House Baratheon, First of his Name, Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, Lord of Storm's End, swear fealty to you, Queen Helaena, Second of her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realms,"

"Helaena?" the now-Queen turned toward Ned Star, who was watching her questioningly, unsure of how to proceed next. Ned, who was so Northern in his ways, treasured honor and duty above all. And part of that was following tradition, "But Viserys, he is next in line for the throne,"

"Will you not swear fealty to me Ned?" Helaena turned away from Robert and made her way slowly toward the newest Warden of the North—dress still soaking up blood and turning the white fabric more and more crimson, "Viserys is unfit to be King, he's unfit to rule anything really," the Queen shrugged dismissively, "Right now he and my mother, along with my unborn sibling, are on a ship headed for Essos. Where they will remain, as I secure and rule the Seven Kingdoms,"

"So you will ask them to return once everything is safe?" Ned Stark, all honor and loyalty, it made Helaena want to laugh.

Placing a delicate hand on Ned's shoulder, Helaena shook her head softly, "No, they won't. As repayment toward your House for the pain that my father has wrought, for your family he has killed—they will be exiled to Essos and stay there until after such a time I see fit to let them return. I will be the last true Targaryen in Westeros for a long while yet,"

Ned faltered, as much as he wanted justice for his family—Aerys was dead. The newest Warden didn't think he needed anything more in order for justice to be repaid. But he trusted Helaena, more than most people, had grown and been fostered with her and Robert in the Vale for a brief period of time. The bonds between them were deep and Ned loved her above all others, "Helaena, you do not have to do that," the last thing Ned wanted was to see Helaena in pain from being separated from her family.

"Bend the knee Ned," Helaena interrupted, "And we can discuss the matter of my family's status some other time" pushing down on Ned's shoulder, the Queen looked up at him beseechingly.

Taking another moment of hesitation, in which the other two men in the room waited with bated breath to see what action he would pursue, Ned eventually went down on his one knee, looking up and staring unflinchingly into Helaena's eyes, "I, Eddard of House Stark, First of His Name, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell, swear fealty to you, Queen Helaena of House Targaryen, Second of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm,"

Smiling, Helaena placed a delicate kiss on Ned's cheek, that sent his face aflame, before taking him by the hand and helping him to his feet. Sharing one last look with Ned, Helaena let go and turned toward the throne. Walking toward it slowly, going over the bodies of both her brother and her father, Helaena made her way toward the Iron Throne.

Just before reaching the throne, Helaena turned her glance briefly toward Jaime Lannister, who was standing nervously in the corner of the room—waiting to see what his fate would be. "Will you be representing House Lannister, Kingslayer? Or will I have to wait for your father to come and bend the knee? I would so like to see Tywin Lannister on his knees in front of me," Helaena laughed, before taking another step and sitting down and settling herself on the Iron Throne.

Men from her father's Kingsguard, and now her Queensguard, as well as the separate armies of the North and the Stormlands, began to filter in—no doubt finishing their pillaging of the palace. The knights of Aerys Kingsguard, began to line up in front of the dais—waiting to hear direction from their new Queen—having seen the dead bodies of Rhaegar and Aerys and deducing for themselves exactly who was in charge now.

"Bring me the Lords of each Great House so that they may come bend the knee and reaffirm their loyalties to House Targaryen," Helaena turned to Jaime and stopped him before he could make his way out, "Kingslayer! Go bring me the Mountain. He and I have much to talk about,"

A cool shiver of trepidation went down Jaime's spine at the look in Helaena's eyes. Everyone had heard of what the man known as the Mountain had down to Princess Elia and her children—their screams could be heard all throughout the Red Keep. Jaime knew that whatever the Queen had in mind for Ser Gregor Clegane, it was not quickly. Nodding hastily, the Kingslayer made his way out.

Helaena turned to Ned and Robert, "I'll need your counsel—we have much to do in order to reassemble some kind of order,"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I've become inspired, truly. LOL Really this is more of like a foundational chapter, so that you can see Helaena start to set up her rule, see who is on a part of her Small Council and how she is dealing with everything. Whether or not she'll be a good ruler is still very much in question, whether or not she'll end up mad...well Cersei Lannister phrased it best: "Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin..."**

 **Anyways please R &R and let me know what you think! I welcome constructive criticism but if you want to flame me you will be blocked (is that a thing here?). Have a brilliant day, hopefully I'll crank out a couple more chapters by the end of this month!**

 **xoxo**

 **M**

"Sir Gregor Clegane," Helaena was sitting on the Iron Throne, her white dress still soaked at the bottom with the blood of her family members. The men of her Queensguard now surrounded her, some of them absent, having not heard news of what was going on in the Capital and still out fighting. It was something that Helaena was readily trying to remedy.

The Targaryen Princess, now Queen, had not bothered to change into another dress. Deciding instead to remain on the Throne, the idea was to establish herself visually at the very least. It had been Robert's idea and Helaena hadn't bothered to refute it. Lord Baratheon stood vigilant at her side, but Helaena was also fretting about Ned, who had gone to the Tower of Joy to retrieve Lyanna and the rest of Aerys' Kingsguard—including Ser Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne. Both extremely skilled Knights who ranked high in terms of skill and seniority within the Kingsguard. Hopefully, Helaena thought to herself, both knights would come peacefully and accept her.

The main in question stood stoically in front of his new Queen, aware of what was potentially going to happen next. All of the Lords who had yet to bend the knee were crowded together in the throne room, awaiting with bated breadth to see what the fate of the Mountain would be. Many, whilst clearly unhappy with Aerys and believing Rhaegar to be completely foolhardy, wanted to see Helaena in action before fully deciding to swear fealty to her. They couldn't have another mad Targaryen on their hands, but they also couldn't have an irresponsible one. No one was brave enough to defy her and try to seize the throne for themselves, when she had the backing of the two people that started the rebellion in the first place—Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark.

"May I ask you a question?" the inquiry was obviously rhetorical and the Mountain made no move to answer. The silence caused Helaena's temper to rise slightly but she remained calm and still, an air of force casualty surrounding her.

"Can you escort my good sister Elia to me? And my darling niece and nephew, I'd love to see them and make sure they weren't unduly harmed during the raid upon our home," everyone in the hall still at Helaena's order, her finger clenched firmly on the Iron Throne being the only give away to how furious the Queen truly was. Everyone knew what had happened, either they had witnessed it or the whispers had filtered all throughout the ranks but either way—everyone from the Queen to one of the wildlings beyond the Wall probably knew what had went on.

Gregor Clegane did not move, staring unflinchingly up at Helaena. His bod was held perfectly still. The man had been bred and raised to take orders, and while there was an inherent savagery to him, he would not have done what he did unless someone of a higher standing had given him license to do so. And Helaena knew this, however she also knew that trying to punish one of the Lords of the Great Houses she was trying to make bend the knee would not do well in currying her their favor.

Helaena could care less whether Gregor Clegane did this on someone else's orders or not, whether or not he felt like the act was wrong itself or not, she just wanted to make an example of him. She needed to it quickly, strongly, and with just cause so that no one could accuse her of being weak, or worse, mad.

"Sir Gregor Clegane, you stand accused on murder and treason again the House Targaryen. Do you deny it? Helaena's voice vibrated throughout the room, and while her words were directed at the Mountain—her eyes locked with Tywin Lannister.

The Queensguard was lined up on either side of the Queen. All of them were actively ready to draw their swords should the Mountain make a move. Ser Barristan Selmy, the man that had practically raised her, stood directly on Helaena's right, with Robert standing on the other side of the throne—his battle hammer ready in his hand. All the other Lords watched expectantly in the audience, waiting for Queen Helaena to finish her judgment.

"Elia Martell is dead, after you defiled her body and killed her. Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon are dead, after you bashed their skulls in. Do you deny it?" Helaena rose, and straightened to her full height. Her face was impassive but her words were sharp and carefully pronounced, no one in th throne room could deny how much like a Queen she seemed like in that very moment.

"No," the gruff answer was the only reply Gregor Clegane had. What else was there to say when he knew exactly what he had done? The crowd erupted in whispers and exclamations but Helaena only raised an eyebrow in reaction.

"Elia was my good sister. Before donning the Targaryen cloak, she wore that of the House Martell. Thus, not only are you standing accused of murder and treason against the Crown, you are also accused of murder against the House Martell," motioning toward the crowd, Helaena beckoned Oberyn Martell forward.

The Dornish man broke the crowd, he and his current lover being the only two officials to come from Dorne, and headed straight for the Queen, "Helaena," the Dornish princes greeted, completely disregarding the Queen's title. Doran Martell had yet to bend the knee and Oberyn was not in a place to do so for the whole of the Summer Isles.

"Oberyn Martell, several moons ago my brother treated your sister with great dishonor. And now, she is dead because of a member of my father's own Kingsguard. House Targaryen has offended your House time and time again. I hope to mend those bridges," casting a hand toward Sir Gregor, Helaena gestured for Oberyn at the Mountain, "A trial, by combat, if it pleases you Lord Oberyn of House Martell,"

Oberyn looked between the Mountain and Helaena, startled. The Prince was unsure if this was supposed to be a gift, or a punishment for Doran not coming to the proceedings and bending the knee himself. However, he wasn't about to reject getting the opportunity to exact revenge upon the person who defiled and slaughtered his dear sister and her children.

"And the champions?" Oberyn's eyes settled upon the Mountain, unable to look away whatsoever, hatred filling every single cell of his body.

Helaena's eyes lit up slightly, her mouth quirking into a small smile, "Yes, the matter of champions. Think of this as an added gift if you will—let us dash tradition for a moment. The both of you can be your own champions, considering you both are not the only male members of your household left,"

The Queen sat back on the throne and smiled pleasantly at Oberyn, who looked incredibly conflicted about what he had just heard. A moment of indecision passed the man, he felt completely unsure of whether or not he should accept Helaena's offer, or if he should just wait in the shadows and attempt to gain justice for himself later. Oberyn shook his head at the idea, it was ridiculous. The Mountain was right there in front of him and if he didn't avenge Elia right now, when would he ever get the opportunity?

Oberyn locked eyes with Helaena and gave a stiff nod, "I accept, _Queen_ Helaena," the words struggled out of his mouth but Oberyn managed to utter them.

His submission and acknowledgement of Helaena resulted in an eruption of whispers amongst the crowd, causing Helaena to stand and wave a hand at them all to remain silent. At the exercise, everyone quieted at the sheer authority that the Queen was emanating—no doubt bolstered by what had just played out.

"In a fortnight, Lord Oberyn of House Martell will duel Ser Gregor of House Clegane in a trial by combat," Queen Helaena declared to the waiting audience, "Until then, Ser Gregor will await his face in the Black Cells, and Lord Oberyn you and your party are welcome to stay in the guest rooms until the date arrives,"

At the announcement, members of the Queensguard surrounded Ser Gregor and escorted the man to the Black Cells. He went with little struggle, knowing that when the time came, he would be ready and he would prevail. The confidence nearly radiated out of the terrifying man. When the doors finally shut on the back of the Mountain, it only took another moment before Lords and Ladies of the various Great Houses and Lesser Houses started to line up in order to swear fealty to Queen Helaena.

…

"A clever play," Tywin mused, having not yet sworn his fealty and was instead standing in the back of the throne room with his sons—observing the chaos that was occurring before him.

The Lannister Lord watched as the Queen sat on the Iron Throne, men and women tripping over themselves in order to swear their fealty and reaffirm their loyalty to a House that they had wanted to rebel against mere days earlier. Robert Baratheon stood by her side, impatiently, as if waiting for another battle to erupt. The remaining Queensguard lined up around her, all of them glaring lethally at the people before them—ready to do anything to protect the last Targaryen in Westeros.

Tyrion, with a mind more towards politics than his brother but still young and not completely familiar with all the trappings of King's Landing, looked up at his father for guidance, "Father?"

"If Prince Oberyn is to be his own champion and the Mountain as well, their duel is more than likely to end in death as opposed to a surrender," Tywin explained, the only time he would speak cordially to his youngest son being moments like this.

"And what does that matter? Trials by combat usually always end up in a death, I can't remember the last time there was a surrender," Jaime, who hadn't felt brave enough to speak to Helaena about his own role in her Queensguard, had decided to stay beside his family in case she just so happened to remember that he murdered her father.

"Yes, but usually the offended parties choose their own champions. Right now, Helaena is searching to force Doran Martell's hand," Tywin smirked, slightly impressed with the plan, "If Oberyn wins, Doran will have no choice but to come to King's Landing as repayment. If Oberyn loses, Doran would be forced to come to retrieve his brother's body and undoubtedly receive pressure to bend the knee once he got here,"

"So it's just a matter of which path Doran ends up choosing—either way he comes to King's Landing," Tyrion surmised, the pieces clicking together in his head.

"Well, he doesn't get to choose. It's balanced on the point of whether or not Oberyn dies," Jaime pointed out, actually understanding somewhat of what was going on, usually not one for mind games.

"Yes, the point of contention is if Oberyn dies, Doran might feel slightly more hostile about the whole situation. However, he wouldn't be able to just leave his brother's body here—he would have to come and at that point, I'm sure the Queen would make sure he wouldn't be able to leave until she got what she wanted," Tywin watched as several more houses (those that were the bannermen to House Targaryen) bend the knee, which was expected of them really.

From what Tywin knew of the Queen, from when she was a Princess, was that she could be a promising leader. She had learnt how to rule from the knees of both her grandfather Jahaerys before he died, and Aerys before the man went mad. The girl had been born on Dragonstone, raised in King's Landing, fostered at the Vale for only a couple years alongside Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon before returning home.

She had been known to travel somewhat, to the Reach and the Summer Isles and other various parts of the Seven Kingdoms. Princess Helaena had taken on the touring duties that the Heir Apparent would usually do because Rhaegar had taken a liking to a pretty wench or was playing his lyre out in the streets and thus declared himself unavailable.

Neither King Jahaerys nor the Mad King had tried to set Rhaegar on the right path. And Tywin attributed this failure in parenting as to why any of them even currently stood in the throne room—with Rhaegar and Aerys burned corpses in the corner, covered by a shroud as if that would stop people from noticing they were there.

"But what if he were to declare war?" the question came from Tyrion, who hadn't fought in the Rebellion and didn't particularly feel jolly about there being another battle on their hands.

"It wouldn't be smart of him, not when all these Houses have already begun to swear fealty to House Targaryen and the Crown. There is also the North and the Stormlands to consider—both of the Lord Paramounts have already declared themselves to her and the Tyrells were already sided with the Targaryens during the Rebellion—they have nothing to worry about," a frown settled itself onto Tywin's face, "Tread lightly—unfortunately in this round we Lannisters were on the wrong side. We must do everything to ensure that the Queen forgets that,"

Both sons bowed their heads, "Yes, Father"

….

"Who will be your Hand, my Queen? And the rest of your Small Council? Unless you wish to keep the same persons who occupied your Father's?" Petyr Baelish inquired, stepping up from amongst the Lords, who all looked upon him rather disdainfully. Everyone knew of Littlefinger and his reputation, no doubt the man would try his hardest to work his way into the Queen's Small Council now.

Helaena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Petyr's simpering. The man had ignored her for the better half of her life, favoring instead to cater toward Rhaegar's wants and needs, and now here he was making an appearance now that she was Queen. It was such typical behavior from the man, who had very much started out as just nothing more than a street urchin.

"Who else would be my Hand, but the Lord of one of the Great Houses in the Seven Kingdoms? Renowned for his cunning…" Helaena allowed the question to hang in the air, and watched as the chest of a number of men in the crowd puffed up as if she were referring to those simpletons. Scanning her eyes about the room, Helaena saw exactly who she needed in order to address this whole Hand business. However, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms wanted to play a little game first.

"Varys," her voice echoed throughout the silent room, everyone waited for Helaena to continue for surely she could not have thought to make the Eunuch the newest Hand? "You've been Master of Whispers for so long—I can't bare to think of you in any other position, will you accept and swear fealty to me?"

Varys, bald and in a rather ruffled looking robe—obviously he had been caught in some of the skirmishes during the attack upon the Red Keep, approached the Queen and bowed his head, "My Queen, nothing would honor me more than to continue to serve the House Targaryen,"

"Such flattery," Helaena crooned, "I hope you'll endeavor to always tell _me,_ your Queen, the truth Varys. For both our sakes,"

Dismissing him with a wave of a hand, Helaena watched as Varys quickly backed away and settled himself on the other side of the room—back into the shadows where he was used to, awaiting secrets to come from his damn little birds. Petyr Baelish, seeing that he was most likely not going to get his answer soon, slunk back into the crowds lest he also face the wrath of Helaena Targaryen, who definitely seemed to be in a mood.

The throne room was aflutter, everyone whispering to themselves about Helaena's decision and inquiring to each other about who would be her next pick. To be a part of the Queen's Small Council would be an honor higher than most men would achieve.

"Have Gerold, Oswell, and Arthur arrived yet?" the very first amount of nervousness crept into Helaena's voice as she asked Robert, who had bene taking all the messages for her whilst she addressed the crowd.

Usually the large man was bored of things like this, always wanting to go drink and hunt or do both at the same time. Robert Baratheon thrived off a good duel. But he also knew that Helaena needed assistance in a time like this, and after basically bashing her brother's skull in, the man felt like he owed her just a bit of patience.

The knights and Lord Commander Hightower were all extremely loyal to House Targaryen. But, they were also close friends with Rhaegar. Despite writing a hasty letter that hopefully explained her side of the tale favorably, Helaena knew that news of her brother's death would upset them greatly. Even if Ned went there in peace, and with only the goal of retrieving his gods forsaken sister, the men would undoubtedly be reluctant to come back to the Red Keep peacefully.

"No, they haven't Helaena and they didn't five minutes ago when you asked. I'll let you know when they're here," Robert answered impatiently, earning a glare from Helaena when anyone else would have gotten their heads cut off or at the very least spent a fortnight in the Black Cells.

The new Queen huffed before casting her gaze back out in the crowd, gazing searchingly as everyone watched from below nervously, "Lord Mace of House Tyrell-the Reach has plenty of gold. You're good with it. Or at the very least your Mother, the Queen of the Thorns, is severely clever. As a reward for staying true to my House, you shall be named the Master of Coin,"

Mace stepped up quickly, and bowed and expressed his thanks. His mother, who was still at the Reach, would undoubtedly be pleased with the news and the man was happy to at least bring some good news back to the woman he called mother. Any other result and she would have most likely marched her own way into King's Landing and begun a fight with the Queen herself.

By this point, the crowd was getting impatient. Everyone wanted to know who was to be named the most coveted position of Hand of the Queen. Sighing, Helaena quickly scanned the crowd and found the familiar head of gold she had been looking for.

"Lord Tywin of House Lannister," Helaena walked down from the dais for the very first time, shocking quite a few people, and approached the golden lion who was standing with his sons in the crowd of people, "As Hand, you kept the Kingdom running for a very long time as my Father spiraled into madness. Now that he is gone, will you be Hand again, but this time in service to me? Aerys' daughter?" holding out her hand, Helaena watched expectantly for Tywin to respond in favor.

The Lord Paramount of the Westerlands did not disappoint, did not even hesitate. He grasped Helaena's hand and together the two walked back upon the dais, the Lord of Casterly Rock assisting Helaena in sitting back onto the throne before kneeling before her.

"I, Lord Tywin of House Lannister, First of His Name, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Lord of Casterly Rock, do swear fealty to you Queen Helaena, Second of her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm," looking up, Tywin met Helaena's eyes, "And I hope, that she can forgive my family for their part in the Rebellion and particularly my son, for murdering her Father,"

Helaena raised an eyebrow. Clever of Tywin, to ask for forgiveness in front of all the rest of the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms. If she didn't accept, she'd look like a hypocrite because Robert had been the one to lead the rebellion and now there he was standing by her side, still the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. If she did accept, that means she wouldn't be able to punish them, especially Jaime, without looking excessively cruel.

"Your family was acting for the good of the Seven Kingdoms, just as we are all want to do. You and your family are forgiven, this time, Tywin Lannister," flashing a cruel smile, Helaena waved away her new Hand, who moved to stand on the other side of Robert Baratheon who would not move from his position by her.

With that done, Helaena called a recess so that everyone could break for their midday meal. So much had been done and the day wasn't even half over yet.


	3. Chapter 3

The men of her now half-filled Small Council followed Helaena to her chambers, where she had retreated to quickly after calling for the recess. All of them had to up their pace in order to follow her, the members of the Queensguard surrounding the party in order to protect everyone. Danger was still apparent and the paranoia levels amongst everyone was running high.

Sitting around the large table that Helaena had her handmaidens set up in her room, Helaena briefly noticed that Mace Tyrell had brought his eldest son Willas in with him, and that Tywin had brought both his sons, Tyrion and Jaime. The sight caused Helaena to snort briefly in her head. Nepotism was the way of the world—she wasn't at all surprised that the second the men were named with a position they would bring their family along for the ride. Helaena counted herself lucky that they didn't bring their daughters. Highborn ladies were known to be even more devious than their brothers and fathers combined. That was not something the queen wanted to deal with right now, when they were at the cusp of either great turmoil or great change.

Stannis Baratheon was standing stoically beside Robert and Renly, who both seemed much more chipper than the middle brother who undoubtedly expected Robert to be sitting on the throne. It was probably the main reason why the man, who was known to stay locked in Storm's End with little to no social skill whatsoever, had decided to march alongside his brother for the capital. With grand dreams that his family would be catapulted to the top. This was probably not an outcome he had expected. Helaena watched the middle Baratheon warily, knowing that something had to be done about the man—just in case his ambitions decided they wanted something more than just being the second Baratheon son.

The thought made Helaena sigh an exasperated huff, knowing that all the men in the room currently with her were the ones above all others in the Seven Kingdoms who wanted the throne, and probably had the man power to at least attempt it. They all thought themselves smarter, and more experienced. And perhaps that was true to an extent, given how young Helaena was in comparison. But she was a Targaryen, she had been born and bred to rule. The Gods and the Seven and whatever else these people believed in be damned, and damn what any man or woman thought.

A glass of wine appeared in her line of view, and Helaena turned her head to see the infamous Tyrion Lannister, dubbed The Imp by everyone in the Seven Kingdoms (even his own father), holding out the glass to her. Helaena blinked, had she been so unaware and caught in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice him pouring the glass?

Looking around the table again, the Queen saw how all the Lords were looking at her expectantly. Sighing, Helaena took the glass from Tyrion and poured it onto the ground next to her, in front of him. The Imp looked slightly affronted. Everyone else gazed at her curiously, searching for an explanation at Helaena's odd behavior.

"Apologies," Helaena mollified, "But until I get official tasters I won't be consuming anything for a while," the information so casually thrown out had all the Lords stiffening.

Even now, after having sworn fealty, their Queen did not trust them. It shouldn't have surprised them really, but no one had expected the former Princess to be so paranoid and astute. Perhaps that was a problem in themselves they had to adjust. They had all been underestimating her, from the moment that Robert had declared himself against the Crown, and Ned had sided with him, every Lord in Westeros had been watching their actions and that of Aerys and Rhaegar. No one had been watching how Helaena was playing the game and what moves she was making, not until it was too late and she had sat herself upon the throne with the help of the very people who started the Rebellion.

"You understand, don't you?" the question seemed to stun Tyrion who was unused to people actually asking him his opinion, let alone acknowledging him as if he was a person.

"Of course, my Queen," Tyrion answered obediently, before backing away and headed back to Jaime and Tywin.

Helaena watched everyone rather warily. Before sitting back in her chair and waiting for the chaos to start. "Well, here you all are. Any suggestions for your Queen on who shall fill the other seats of the Small Council?"

Immediately the room was filled with people all talking at once. All the men elevating their voice in an effort to speak louder than any other man, trying to get his voice heard the most. Even Tywin Lannister, who was usually so composed, was face to face with Stannis Baratheon—arguing with him over who would become Master of Ships of all things. The only silent ones were Helaena herself, and Jaime Lannister—who was staring disinterestedly at everyone around him, arms crossed against his chest and just looked bored overall.

 _How decidedly unaffected_ , Helaena thought to herself gleefully of Jaime after the man had just stabbed her father in the back, literally. _Father must have done something truly horrible this time._

Eyes still gazing upon on a brooding Jaime, Helaena silenced the room as she cleared her throat—all attention moved suddenly to her. Even Jaime, who locked eyes with the Queen, a question in his gaze. They all waited with bated breath to see what exactly Helaena was going to see. Every word she spoke now could be law and Helaena savored in the power of it all.

"Tywin," a small smile graced Helaena's face as she continued to stare down Jaime, making the man fidget just a bit, "You're my Hand now. Tell me in your infinite wisdom, without too much pandering and your usual tartness, would you would advise," turning to meet the Lannister Lion eye to eye, Helaena grinned wider—ominously even, "And don't worry I won't have you burned for saying anything too offending. I'm not my father after all,"

"No," Tywin agreed, "No, you are not your father. You are far better," the Hand conceded, "But whether or not you are ready to rule the Seven Kingdoms is debatable," the pronouncement had all the other Lords huffing in indignation, defending their Queen in order to seem like they were on her side.

Robert, who was truly offended for his foster sister, was turning red in the face and looked ready to chop Tywin's pretty little blonde head off. Ser Barristan Selmy stayed by Helaena's side, but in an act of real emotion, spat at Tywin, while all the other Lords admonished him for his criticism. Helaena's eyes didn't move from Tywin's, and the older man continued to stare her down as well, a sort of understanding passing between the two.

None of them were expecting the laugh, though harsh, to escape Helaena's mouth, "Oh do shut the fuck up,"

Everyone fell silent at the order.

"Do you really not think I know just what exactly is going on through all your heads? Each and every one of you?" At Robert's indignant exclamation Helaena mended her statement, "Alright then, most of you. At the very least Tywin has decided to tell me the truth and in being true to my oath I will not have him burned like my father would,"

The statement didn't seem to make anyone feel better. Everyone knew that the Targaryens were prone to madness. And although Helaena seemed sane up until this point, no one knew how long it would last and whether or not she would really take after her father. No matter what promises and oaths were made right now.

Sighing, Helaena decided to take the edge off the atmosphere, "I would much rather you all tell me the truth; it is your job to make sure I do not turn into my father. Nor Baelor the Blessed or any other of my mad relatives,"

"Of course my Queen," Tywin affirmed, "I, as your Hand, will do my best in order to advise you to keep the Seven Kingdoms whole,"

All the other Lords nodded their agreement.

"Great. Amazing. Brilliant. Perfect. You are all dismissed, I need a moment to myself," all the people started shuffling out, bowing to Helaena before completely leaving, but Helaena stopped Ser Barristan Selmy and Jaime Lannister.

"I want to speak with you both," and the Knights stayed behind obediently as everyone else was cast out.

…

"Father, we'll need to get Grandmother here. She'll be able to talk to the Queen and have her listen," Willas counseled his father, after the two had been cast out with everyone else from the room.

"Your Grandmother is all the way in Highgarden with the rest of the family. It'll take her weeks to get here," Mace countered, not particularly excited at the idea of having his mother come to King's Landing.

Willas rolled his eyes, knowing why his father was being reluctant, "Yes but Grandmother knows how to handle situations like these. Right now we're more in favor than the other Houses because we stayed loyal but Tywin Lannister was still made Hand. We need to do more and you know Grandmother would be furious if we didn't let her know it was safe to come,"

"She'll be furious either way, your Grandmother can be a right shrew sometimes," Mace grumbled just loud enough for his son to hear, but with some concentrated effort.

"Father, the Tyrells are the second wealthiest House in the Seven Kingdoms right now. But with Grandmother here, she can surely find a way to start more trade and develop relations that will let us become even better," Willas continued to advise, knowing that it would take a little more effort to convince his father to write a letter to Grandmother.

"I can do that just as well, the Queen made me Master of Coin. That's no small task," Mace walked down the halls of the Red Keep with his son, making servants who were cleaning up the mess that was left behind by the raid scoot away.

"She also mentioned how clever Grandmother is while she was giving you the title. Obviously she respects Grandmother to an extent and we can't snub something like that," Willas was growing frustrated with how stubborn his father was being.

Mace sighed, knowing that his son was right but not wanting his mother to come and interfere when he had just spent a blessed few months without her while everyone was fighting during the Rebellion. "I'll write the letter. But you can greet her when she gets here,"

Willas smiled, "Of course Father,"

…

Perched on the edge of her bed, Helaena watched the two knights before her, her purple eyes sharp and clear. Running her fingers through her silver hair, Helaena twirled it in her hand, inspecting it closely before glancing up again. Ser Barristan stood there, stoic and without emotion as was typical of him when he was as attention. Jaime Lannister on the other hand, looked nervous and Helaena could guess why.

"Well Ser Jaime Lannister, what did my father do?" startled, Jaime straightened himself before the Queen, unsure of what she meant.

"I'm sorry my Queen?" after the whole experience, no one had asked him about the actions of the King and he didn't expect it. But he was also severely conscious of who he was speaking too.

This wasn't Princess Helaena anymore, this was the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and angering her might just mean his head on a spike if he miss-stepped too much. Jaime was completely aware that the hot tempered little girl he knew was in there simmering beneath the facade of a cool and calm Queen-he wouldn't let himself fall into a false sense of security. Not like everyone else. The men of the Queensguard knew the truth.

Furthermore, Jaime had refrained from speaking of the events because the man knew no one would believe him about what Aerys was going to do, now that Jaime was technically an oath breaker. Additionally, no one would ever understand that he had to do what was necessary. Moreover, before him was the woman whose father he had just killed. And she was also the one who had everyone start calling him the Kingslayer. Just thinking the name made Jaime visibly wince. There was more than just a little hostility seeping into the air. At the very least, Jaime suspected it was hostility.

Staring down Jaime as if he was an idiot, Helaena rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid Ser Jaime. Despite what all those lords think of people of my gender, we are not all simpering fools. Look at Olenna Tyrell for one, far cleverer than any man I have personally met," Helaena pointed out, stepping off her bed and approaching the Knight.

"Now tell me, what senseless, crazed idea did my father and his voices come up with this time? You had to have killed him for a reason, or did you really just want to sit on the Iron Throne. I know you've always been a cocky son of a bitch but your ambitions have never swung to ruling," looking down, Helaena was so close that Jaime could see every time the Queen inhaled and exhaled, the movement of her chest constricting against the blood soaked white gown she wore.

"The man wanted to burn down the Red Keep and all of King's Landing with wildfire and have me kill my father,"

The reply did not seem to affect Helaena at all. She looked particularly unfazed and Jaime wondered why. "Is that all? Did he give the order to set the city in flames? Or was he just speaking of it?"

The question confused Jaime but he answered anyway, "He gave the order. I had to stop his fire starters from going forth as well,"

Helaena shook her head, and Jaime was worried she didn't believe him. But instead Helaena kept her gaze locked on his and placed a gentle hand against his cheek.

Her skin's warm, was the first observation that Jaime made. And slightly callous, but the Knight already expected that. Everyone knew that when she wanted to, the Princess (now Queen) could wield a sword. Nowhere near as well as say Arthur Dayne, but better than some of the newer members that were sworn into her Father's Kingsguard. She had, after all, been training with some of the Knights since she was a little girl.

Shocked, the Lannister lion did not move. He and Helaena have never had the closest relationship, thus this amount of times he had to touch Helaena in order to catch her or guide her somewhere could be counted with the fingers on both his hands. However, what stunned him the most, was how much Princess Helaena had grown up. She wasn't the little five-year-old girl he had made fun of at the age of ten anymore, and she certainly wasn't the hot-headed ten-year-old he had to guard at five and ten when he first joined the Kingsguard—time and her Father's descent into madness seemed to have aged her. There had always been a distance, physical and otherwise, between them before, so he was never privy to observe what time had done to her this closely until now.

"Jaime Lannister, your service was undoubtedly, essential to the Rebellion. We'll have a feast...perhaps even a tourney, once I make the announcement. Everyone should know what you did. Arthur, when he comes back, will be astonished to hear the news. He'll be quite amazed, I'm sure of it,"

Out of the corner of her eye, Helaena could see the disbelieving look Ser Barristan sent to his Queen. Both people knew, more so than Jaime, how loyal Arthur Dayne was to the Targaryen line and how unfailingly he followed his oath. It was unlikely he would look upon Jaime Lannister favorably. Not that the Kingslayer knew that yet.

But Helaena knew just how much Jaime worshiped the ground that man walked on. Every time, for the past five years since the Lannister lion had joined Aerys' Kingsguard, Jaime would be present whenever Arthur was assigned to her detail. Following the Knight and asking him so many questions. When he was assigned to her, Jaime would no so subtly steer her to areas of the Red Keep that Arthur was undoubtedly preoccupying, allowing Helaena to skip out on her lessons as long as she left the two knights to talk.

Moreover, Jaime Lannister didn't need to know about his eventual and inevitable rejection by Arthur Dayne until it happened. Helaena narrowed her eyes a bit, indistinguishable to anyone who did not know her well, which Jaime didn't. Not really, anyway.

Yes, Helaena concluded: Jaime Lannister and maybe his sister Cersei would be essential in keeping Tywin Lannister in check.

Lowering her hand, Helaena stepped away from Jaime and turned away to go sit back on her bed. "You are dismissed Ser Jaime,"

The Lannister lion faltered for a moment. What was it about Helaena Targaryen that intoxicated people when she came too near? Jaime was left feeling dazed as she stepped away from him and the Kingslayer internally wondered why.

Jaime loved Cersei, she was his other half, but he had watched Helaena Targaryen grow up intermittently from the young girl who fell into the mud at the tourney held for Prince Viserys birth to the young woman she was now. They were never close, not like her and Ser Barristan Selmy, but there was a familiarity and now it seemed there was an oceans distance between them. But he felt the urging need to cross that ocean and Jaime Lannister did not know why, didn't know where the compellment was coming from. Instead of contemplating it further, he turned on his heel and quickly left the room.

…

"He'll be slaughtered," Ser Barristan observed, watching Helaena to see what her reaction would be.

Helaena hummed in reply, "Maybe," looking as nonchalant as ever, a pleased look manifesting in her expression.

"The boy is too young to understand what you just did," the Knight asserted.

"The boy is older than me by five years," the Queen replied hotly, "Don't worry yourself Ser, nothing will happen that isn't supposed to happen,"

"Pardon me, your Majesty, but I sincerely doubt that any good will come of announcing to the whole city that Jaime Lannister was the one who stabbed King Aerys in the back, thereby breaking his oath. Especially if you leave out the part where the Mad King tried to set this whole place on fire. And even if you cited that as the reason, no one would believe Jaime Lannister—the man who broke his Kingsguard oath and was found sitting on the Iron Throne,"

Helaena shrugged, making a turn about the room, and gazing out at King's Landing from her wide, bay window. "Fire and Blood," looking meaningfully at Ser Barristan Selmy, "Those are the words of my house. But do you know what else they are?" the question seemed to confuse the Knight.

Making her way to her wardrobe, pulling a large chest out. Seeing her difficulty, Ser Barristan walked over and helped Helaena pick up the chest and placed it on her bed.

"Fire and Blood. The ingredients to hatch dragon eggs," flipping the chest open, Helaena revealed three dragon eggs to the Knight before her. Three glistening dragon eggs.

One was white, the other blue, and the last gold. All of them seemed to be beating and alive, warm—not anything like the stone encased, dead dragon eggs that were rumored to be all that was left of the great beasts. No, these eggs were very much alive and waiting to be hatched.

"What will you do with them your Majesty?" Ser Barristan, clearly stunned, could only manage this question.

"I want to hatch them. Over time. We will have to find people to sacrifice. The first being Gregor Clegane, of course. We will burn his body with the egg once Oberyn Martell kills him," Helaena stated, eyes gleaming as she watched the eggs before her. "Or the other way around. It makes no difference."

"And the other two eggs, your Majesty?" the question made Helaena look up at the knight of her Queensguard, staring into him as if trying to see something.

"Ser Barristan you have known me since I was a little girl and served my family for a very long time. You have always been loyal—have you not?

Ser Barristan nodded immediately, he had always been faithful and remembered the old Aerys fondly when the man was still a good King, before he had fallen to madness. He was there, outside the birthing chambers on guard, the night that Helaena and Rhaegar had entered the world. He was there when she had her first steps and when Helaena nearly drowned herself in the pond when she was just but a little toddler wobbling about the Keep. He was also there, when in a pique of anger, she had thrown a knife toward her father's head during supper. The Mad King, at that point still very much sane, had merely laughed at his daughter's temper and reasoned that she most certainly was the blood of the dragon as fire had kissed her soul.

The Knight had no doubt that in time Helaena would prove herself, she had always been a smart, passionate girl. But he was also deadly curious as to how these eggs would play into the web that Helaena seemed to be weaving.

"Should any of them, those prickly, deceitful Lords, dare try and betray me, they will wish for my father to be alive again. Because I will sacrifice each of them to hatch an egg and when the dragon is grown I will have that dragon set aflame to their House, burning and eating everything they held dear. Once all the eggs are hatched they will be the ultimate defense against further rebellion," Helaena declared to the dumbfounded Knight.

"I want to break the wheel, but I can't do it without proper reason. I will not be declared senseless and crazy like my Father. I have already forgiven those simpering lords for the Rebellion. But that doesn't forgive them from any future endeavors," Helaena hissed menacingly, before closing the chest and sitting on her bed.

Barristan didn't say anything in contradiction. It wasn't his place and whatever the Queen wished, he would aide in the execution. Even if that meant the extinction of some of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms.

It wasn't his place to do anything else but that.

The image, of Helaena sitting in her bed looking up at him, reminded Ser Barristan Selmy of Helaena as a little girl who wouldn't go to bed when it was already far past her time. Ser Barristan and Ser Oswell would have to chase her around the Keep, all the while the Princess giggling, and eventually wrangle the little terror back into bed. Even now, Ser Barristan saw the Queen as the little girl he had to protect.

"I'm afraid of what will happen when Gerold and Arthur come back, they might not want to be part of my Queensguard. They may try to kill me because of my treatment of Rhaegar after Robert killed him," sighing, Helaena rubbed her forehead and in that moment Ser Barristan could see all the weight of the stress pressing down on Helaena who was still achingly young in comparison to all the Lords who were going to try and manipulate her. Not that they could, but it was the principle of the matter.

"For gods' sakes, Robert still stands- that alone is enough to send them into a bout of fury. But they are loyal Knights, amazing Knights and I hope Ned can convince them to return home. But either way, I want you to be my Lord Commander Barristan. You deserve it," Helaena smiled and grabbed the Knight's hand, squeezing it tightly.

Barristan, for all his closeness to his Princess-now Queen- was not expecting this promotion and squeezed her hand back.

"And, I'm waiving the vow for you. Think of it as a reward, for protecting me all these years. I'm so grateful. Go get Ashara Dayne—make her your lady wife," at this, Ser Barristan almost fell over in shock, his astounded expression causing Helaena to give out her first joyous laugh, something no one had heard in so long. At least, without the cruel, menacing, or humorless tone.

"Of course my Queen," hand slipping away from Helaena's, the man bowed and began to make his way out of the room but was stopped by the Queen's call.

"Barristan, you are not to tell anyone about the eggs or my plan—am I clear? I would hate for you to be the next sacrifice after Gregor Clegane," the warning was there, the casual way in which Helaena informed Ser Barristan of this should have alerted him.

But instead the knight was on such a tidal wave of joy that he could only consent quickly to Helaena's order, rushing to leave in order to see Ashara and ask for her permission to court her.

Staring at the chest placed beside her, Helaena opened the lid again and caressed the the eggs—all three humming with life beneath her finger tips.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so this is chapter is going to start the schedule for Helaena for the rest of the time I will be continuing this story. The updates will be coming every Sunday, just like the rest of my fics. No sooner, no later. I hope you all enjoy and please R &R, I would love to know what you think! **

**xoxo**

 **M**

Jaime Lannister walked out of his meeting with the Queen with a little more cheer in his step than he did walking in. Helaena's rise to power was quick and her first order of the day had already been the submission of all the Lords to her and the execution of either Oberyn Martell or Gregor Clegane, depending on who won the combat.

It sent a shiver of foreboding down Jaime's back. But her offer of holding a feast, for the service he had done to the Kingdom, that was enough for Jaime to forget about what he had seen. His new Queen was being far more generous and forgiving than her father, who was he to question it and her motives? He had known Helaena for quite a while now, and though they were not close, he knew she was the type of person to keep her promises.

Jaime was quickly cornered by his Father as he left the Queen's room.

"Follow me," Tywin Lannister ordered, leading Jaime up the Tower of the Hand and into what was now Tywin's quarters. In there, Tyrion was already waiting with a glass of wine in his hand and a pitcher in the other, pouring himself another drink as it were.

"What did the Queen want?" the question didn't surprise Jaime, of course his father would want to know what the Queen was saying and doing as opposed to asking Jaime how he was after the Rebellion.

"She thanked me, for stopping her father from burning the city down," Jaime replied in a careless, nonplussed way that made Tywin's eye twitch.

Here was his former heir, before he had joined the blasted Kingsguard, not taking advantage of his private audience with the Queen and not giving a damn either way.

"Is that all?" it was Tyrion who asked the question this time, a knowing look in his eye. The Imp had always been far cleverer than his other siblings and he could predict what the Queen wanted to inform Jaime of, it wasn't that hard to deduce.

Jaime's chest puffed out a bit in pride, his first show of real emotion besides his usual indifference, "She's going to hold a feast in my honor. Tell all the people of my actions,"

"She's going to tell all the people…of what you did…?" Tywin spluttered, "Let everyone know that you are the one who broke his oath and killed her father?"

"Because he was going to burn the city down!" Jaime defended vehemently, "Why else would she throw a feast for me unless it was to reward me?"

"And she said that, exactly word for word, that she was going to hold a feast for you in your honor? Let everyone know the truth about her father?" Tyrion asked, saying the words slowly in order to try and give Jaime time to think.

"I believe those were her words yes," Jaime took a beat, "I mean I don't know if that's word for word exactly what she said,"

Tywin Lannister grit his teeth at the incompetency of his son. Of course he wouldn't have remembered what exactly the Queen said. Too busy with the glory Jaime thought he rightfully deserved. It was leading a lamb to slaughter. Again, the Lord of Casterly Rock cursed the gods' for not giving his eldest half the cleverness of the Imp.

"So in other words, you weren't actually listening to a word she was saying," Tyrion deadpanned, shaking his head at his brother before taking another gulp of wine and pouring himself more.

Jaime wasn't the smartest or cleverest of the Lannister siblings. Neither was he particularly dedicated in study, as the lessons that the children used to have went largely ignored by Jaime who favored hunting and fighting. The eldest Lannister son was built for battles, not to play political games. And being younger than him, Jaime probably thought Helaena as barely a threat. Before the death of her father, the Princess was the most favored child of Aerys. The Mad King had been grooming her to rule even as Rhaegar was still heir.

"I will need to speak words with the Queen…to plan this feast. It will require quite a bit of preparation and gold—don't expect it to be anytime soon Jaime," Tywin informed his son who seemed uncaring, too excited about the prospect of being recognized and making Arthur Dayne proud.

Leaving the room, Tywin left his two sons to their own devices. He needed to stop the Queen now, Tywin had known that extracting a promise of forgiveness out of Helaena had been bold. What he didn't expect was for her to retaliate so quickly and effectively. The Great Lion would need to rethink how he addressed his new Queen given the newfound respect he had for her mind.

Tyrion watched Jaime, noticing the unbridled joy that seemed to be bursting out of his older brother, terribly uncharacteristic of him the Imp observed.

"You should be wary of the Queen Jaime," Tyrion warned, "We don't know what her goals are, or even what game she is attempting to play. Helaena could be just as mad as Aerys for all the Kingdom knows."

Jaime shook his head, "Helaena has a temper yes but she isn't mad," the Kingslayer denied, and he firmly believed the fact too.

Despite all the warning signs through the years, the girl had fire in her blood—she was allowed to lose her temper every now and then. She hadn't, to anyone's knowledge, actually hurt or killed anyone when she lost her temper—Helaena choosing to bar herself in her room instead. Not that the larger public knew about this, it was information Aerys had given only to his Kingsguard at the time.

"You and all the other knights so readily defend her and her temper—why is that Jaime?" Tyrion wondered allowed, his line of inquiry causing Jaime to stiffen in response.

"Most of the knights of Aerys' Kingsguard have known Helaena since she was a babe. I have watched over her for near five years. With the way this court gossips, if Helaena was truly mad, wouldn't everyone know by now?" Jaime deflected, he had already broken one vow, he was not going to break another.

Tyrion shook his head disbelievingly at Jaime's lack of insight. "You must admit though, that she is far cleverer and more devious than she lets on. The Mad King had been grooming her to be a Queen Regent for all her life,"

It was a cause of contention between Rhaella and Aerys and subsequently the former Queen and her daughter. Which is probably why she had both the pregnant Rhaella and Viserys exiled to Essos. Although they were probably fitted with trunks of gold to keep them relatively comfortable, Helaena had to have known that her mother would have completely rejected the idea of her usurping Viserys place if she was here to actually object.

But it was too late now, the Great Houses had sworn their fealty and the former Queen had been exiled with her last remaining son. Everyone knew this, even Robert Baratheon who barely paid any mind to what was going on in the Crownlands must have known this. The only person who was probably as deceived as Jaime was, was Ned Stark who thought his foster sister too honorable and gracious.

Jaime rolled his eyes and shook his head in denial, "Helaena was the favored child, yes, I can admit that. But she was not being groomed to be Queen—she was never a player in these games. It has always been Rhaegar, with Helaena just being dragged along for the ride,"

Tyrion snorted at that thought. Helaena Targaryen dragged around by her twin brother? The same twin brother she had publicly scolded when he crowned Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty before subsequently dragging him to her room not to be seen for many more hours? Obviously, Jaime had never really paid a mind to the real power dynamics in that sibling relationship.

…

Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower all did eventually come back, although reluctantly and two days later, to the Crownlands, to the Red Keep. In that time, Helaena had named Lord Jon of House Arryn her Master of Laws and reinstated Pycelle as Grand Maester. It wasn't a tough decision to make. Jon Arryn had been her foster Father, a level headed man of honor and duty and perfect for the role. Grand Maester Pycelle…well, Helaena knew that if she needed him to, he would do her bidding and be discreet about it as well.

There were several men still vying for the position of Master of Ships. Helaena was leaning toward Balon Greyjoy, but had yet to voice her opinion. The Queen was getting a bit of amusement watching the men fall over their feet to try and sway her favor. However, she wanted to fill it with the men who had participated in the Rebellion, keep her enemies close at hand just in case they decided to act against her once again.

Escorted by Eddard Stark and Howland Redwyne as well as most of the bannermen of the North, the three knights were a frightening sight. The best in all of the Seven Kingdoms. From a top the Iron Throne, Helaena watched their approach with slight trepidation. Without their approval, and acceptance of joining her Queensguard, Helaena could have another battle on her hands. The three knights were also men of three Houses with a significant levy in the games. Although they were not Great Houses, they were still significant and powerful and not to be trifled with if one could help it.

Although no one could tell as from any outsider's prospective how nervous Helaena was. The Queen sat on the throne silent, cold, and unaffected by the sight of the Knights before her, who were sneering at Robert Baratheon from his place by the Queen's side.

No one had yet to question why Robert Baratheon had decided to stay at Helaena's side so vigilantly. No one dared accuse him of trying to win her favor and court her, not when he was still lamenting to anyone who would listen about being reunited with his Lyanna so loudly.

Everyone was also afraid to spark the Queen's anger. Her temper, which had been known to be quite volatile, had yet to be sparked. Helaena was, in a respect, acting like a true Queen. The Lords and Ladies of the court wanted to see if this would be a permanent change, or if someone would finally ignite that temper of hers and end up spending a moon in the Black Cells. The temper, of course, had only been rumors, and no one had yet to see the validation of them in public. But they would surely be enough to find her unfit for the throne should she display any signs of madness.

"Princess Helaena, you allow that Usurper and the Kingslayer to stand beside you? Alive?" Gerold Hightower, former Lord Commander of her Father's Kingsguard, sneered up at the Queen.

"It's Queen now, Ser Gerold—I'll have you addressing me by my proper title or not at all," the reprimand made the former Lord Commander pause for a moment but after taking it into consideration, the man begrudgingly nodded. There would be time to argue this later.

Lifting her chin, and sitting up straighter on the Iron Throne, Helaena mentally prepared herself for this confrontation, "Ser Gerold of House Hightower, the men before me in this hall have all sworn their loyalty. I have asked for their forgiveness after the dishonor my family has done to theirs. Rhaegar and my Father have paid for their crimes in blood. While unfortunate, it was necessary. A Queen rules for her people. As King, my father, should have done the same. Royal blood does not mean one can be held unaccountable for their misdeeds,"

Standing, Helaena scrutinized the three knights, all three of whom she had grown up with. All three who had guarded her and watched her grow up, taught her how to wield a sword when she, herself, once had dreams of becoming a Knight. Instead, now, Helaena was Queen and she would be damned if anyone questioned her actions. At the very least, she was not currently acting like a madman like her Father or without thinking like Rhaegar. How blind could their loyalty be, if they could not see this as well?

"As a benevolent Queen, as the last remaining, true Targaryen in Westeros and therefore with the only rightful claim to the throne, I have forgiven them in return for the horrors they have committed. I want peace in the Seven Kingdoms. Peace that can only be upheld if you, Ser Whent, and Ser Dayne remain within my Queensguard and serve me as you did my father for so many years,"

"Your Father was King, Aerys was King," Arthur Dayne asserted, "It is not the peoples' place nor is it his Kingsguard's place, to question his actions. The deaths of Brandon and Rickard Stark were unfortunate, yes. But they came in here demanding things of the King,"

"Killing two men, two Lords of a Great House of Westeros for coming in and making their concerns known is not a crime Ser. They did not threaten my father's life, only beseeched him to bring back Lyanna and Rhaegar," A stern expression settled upon Helaena's face as she looked down from her dais at each of the three knights before her, "If I were like my father, this inquisition that you are currently subjecting me to would mean that you are committing treason—for questioning your Queen," all three men stiffened at Helaena's statement, knowing she was right but not saying anything. Only awaiting her verdict.

"But I am not my Father. I am not even my brother whom you all so loved. Rhaegar was a great man, but he was also publicly impulsive and reckless. I will not be making the same mistakes as either of them. I want to be a great Queen, but I can only do so with men who are loyal to my House by my side. All three of you have proven to be unwavering, so join me,"

"You understand why we have reservations, don't you…my Queen?" the words seemed difficult for Oswell Whent to utter when not only a few days ago the woman before them had just been a Princess. The Princess, the only one, but a Princess nonetheless. One who had allegedly forgiven the rebels and traitors who had attempted to usurp her family from the throne.

"Of course," walking toward the three knights, Helaena beckoned for them to follow her, "Come, I have something to show you…"

Leaving the throne room, Helaena led the three knights to her chambers, the rest of the Lords being left to their own devices—only to wonder what the Queen could be possibly showing the three knights. Ser Barristan Selmy clambered behind the party, wanting to see what their reaction would be. No doubt the Knights of Aerys' Kingsguard would have less objection once they saw just exactly what she had planned to do with the High-born traitors.

….

"You want to do what?" Balon Greyjoy hissed at his younger brother, pulling him into one of the corridors of the Red Keep so that no one would overhear them.

"We deserve the Iron Islands. Either the Queen gives us independence, or we have her throat slit—what's not to understand Balon?" Euron Greyjoy had always been the reckless sort but this was borderline treasonous and made Balon Greyjoy severely uncomfortable.

"Euron, you are not thinking clearly. If you attempt to start an uprising, all the other Great Houses will align with her. If you try to kill her, you'll end up dead. That woman is surrounded by her Queensguard at all hours of the day—no one can approach her without severe vetting and all her food is tested by three tasters before even getting near her. Your plan is foolhardy,"

Balon, was not unopposed to gaining independence for the Iron Islands, but he was also much more rational than his little brother and knew what a fruitless task it would be to try and challenge Queen Helaena. At this moment she had the support of all the Great Houses and the favor of the people.

Euron scoffed, and shoved away from his brother who had been trying to restrain him from going back out into the hall and declaring his intentions.

"Well we need to do something, I'm not going to be bowing to a woman for much longer. The only reason she is Queen is because Robert Baratheon is a fool and too heartsick over his lost, lady Lyanna," the Greyjoy sneered at the thought.

Shaking his head, Balon grabbed Euron and pulled him back into the empty side corridor, "You do this and she will have your head before you can even finish your sentence and I will not be able to help you. What you are attempting is treason—what you need to do is bargain or blackmail her somehow,"

"Oh? And what do you have in mind dear brother?" Euron questioned mockingly, knowing that his older brother—though a good Lord that had earned his place—had no idea how to correctly play the game.

"There must be something that Queen Helaena Targaryen wants—if we can offer it to her, put it on a silver platter, perhaps she will be merciful enough to give us our independence. If not, at the very least we can gain her trust, then get closer to her,"

"And slit her throat, yeah?" grinning wolfishly, Euron could just think of the events happening in that order. No way would the woman accept any sort of defection by any of the Kingdoms under her rule. They would eventually have to kill her, one way or the other.

Nodding solemnly, Balon reluctantly agreed with his younger brother, "Then, and only then, may we contemplate slitting her throat. But if we cannot find what she wants, then perhaps she is hiding something,"

"Now that, dear Brother, might be easier to find,"

Balon raised his eyebrow at Euron's confident statement, "And just what did you have in mind little brother? The Queen isn't a person to just tell her secrets to anyone,"

"I'll gain her trust, get close to her and before long that little Queen will be singing like a songbird," Euron declared boldly.

Snorting, Balon looked at his brother as if he missing a few parts of his brain, "And just what did you have in mind, little brother?"

A wolfish grin stretched across Euron's face, "Well, I've always been told I've got a certain charm about me—let's see how long our dear Queen can resist it,"

….

Oberyn Martell had dueled the Mountain and had lost. Taunting the monstrous man instead of killing him outright had cost the Dornish "Prince" his life. The Mountain, having been stripped of his knighthood, was sent back to Clegane Keep and was still part of the Lannister bannermen—at least by title. In reality, the House Clegane was forbidden to participate in any Kingdom affairs at all and would only serve the Westerlands as Tywin Lannister saw fit. Leaving was not an option.

Lord Doran had requested the body of his brother but was denied by Queen Helaena, citing rotting flesh as the reason. She had informed the Dornish Lord (though he liked to call himself Prince) that if he wanted the ashes of his brother, he would have to come to King's Landing and retrieve them himself.

Down in the vaults, all the dragon skulls had been moved there. The largest, Balerion, had been placed on a pedestal. It was meant to be a place to honor all the dragons that had been (and eventually would be). Kept supremely clean and well lit, it was a shrine to her family's legacy, despite being below the Red Keep.

It was there in the vaults, in the middle of a circle of dragon skulls, that Helaena was accompanied by Ser Gerold, Ser Oswell, Ser Arthur, and Ser Barristan with the dead body of Oberyn Martell—still warm—and the gold dragon egg.

"Are you sure this will work, my Queen?" Ser Gerold whispered, as if afraid that if he spoke too loudly all the skulls around him would come back to life and a dragon would eat him.

It was truly ridiculous, and Helaena told him so.

"Do try and live up to your reputation Ser Gerold," Helaena admonished, watching as the men placed Oberyn's body down in the middle of a stack of wood and kindling.

"I know what I am doing—I have read and re-read the books written by my ancestors," placing the egg onto the body as well, Helaena watched as the knights before her began to set the pyre on fire.

Flames quickly engulfed Oberyn's dead body and the egg, making more fuel and causing the flames to roar and grow larger. Eventually, Oberyn's body began to burn and turn black. The skin began melting away, revealing a skeleton, and even that began to crumble under the heat and intensity of the fire.

Helaena watched with an almost morbid fascination, walking closer and closer to the fire until she was almost touching it. The four Knights of her Queensguard, once having noticed to how close Helaena was getting to the fire, called out in warning but those did not deter the Queen. Instead, she stepped fully into the fire and was engulfed in flames, barely even flinching at the action. The men shouted in shock but could do nothing but watch as their Queen was surrounded by fire.

On her part, Helaena felt nothing. The fire did absolutely nothing to her and as she looked down she noticed the broken shells of the dragon egg that she had placed on top of Oberyn's body. Getting onto her knees, Helaena searched through the burning wood.

Finally, after brushing away a few of the debris the Queen gasped as she spotted a lizard-like creature curled in on itself sleeping within the fire. The dragon, she realized, had gold scales with flecks of red and when he (as Helaena instinctively knew the baby was a boy) opened one eye lazily in order to see who had come to disturb his sleep, he revealed his equally gold and red eyes.

The dragon, instinctively recognizing his mother, unfurled himself and crawled his way toward Helaena—latching himself onto her and crawling up in order to wrap himself around her neck.

The fire, eventually faded. And the stunned knights, who had thought their Queen to be dead, found her sitting in the ashes completely naked with a gold and red scaled dragon curled sleepily around her neck.

"By the god's," Ser Oswell whispered loudly enough for all the people in the vaults to hear.

Helaena couldn't help but smile cheekily, "I told you so,"

"What will you name it, my Queen?" it was Arthur Dayne this time, who had managed to find his voice.

Petting the dragon's head, Helaena gazed at her child adoringly, "He'll be named Sunfyre, and just like his namesake, he will be as beautiful as he will be deadly,"

The menacing smile that stretched across Helaena's face was enough to chill her Queensguard to the bone, but also prompt them to smile in return as they realized what fate awaited anyone who would dare cross their Queen. The times of old, where dragons and dragon riders ruled, were back and Helaena was going to lead them all into a new era.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: On a scale from 1 to Aerys II, how mad do you think Helaena is? LOL let me know if that opinion changes after reading this. Also, hope you enjoy! Disclaimer: Unfortunately none of these characters except Helaena belongs to me, but I lover her so it doesn't really matter.**

It had been a moon, since Aerys and Rhaegar Targaryen had died and the Princess Helaena had risen to take the throne. Having sent her younger brother and her pregnant mother into exile, Helaena was not expecting any correspondence any time soon. Helaena could still remember, in her mind's eye, how Viserys had cried and clung to her dress as she escorted them to a ship that would bring what was left of the Targaryen family to Essos.

Thus, when Jaime Lannister knocked on her door and entered her chambers, Helaena was surprised to find a letter in his hand from her lady mother.

"For you, my Queen," Jaime placed the letter on the table, watching as Helaena walked toward him from her window. No one had been allowed to hand anything to the Queen directly, and she would not eat food or drink wine nor water unless three tasters had tried the meal first.

The paranoia was not surprising, considering that Helaena had surrounded herself with enemies, Robert and Ned having chosen to leave now that the fighting was done. Her dear foster brothers, who she had spent two years with in the Vale being parented by Jon Arryn.

Ned, with a baby in his arms, was going back to Winterfell—the only place he had wanted to be and the place he was now Lord Paramount of since Brandon Stark died. No doubt there would be another baby on the way soon as the Northern Lord would need a true heir. He had declined when Helaena had offered to legitimize Jon Snow, and at the anguished look in his eyes, the Queen did not press further.

Robert Baratheon, in his grief over the death of Lyanna, decided he wanted to drink and whore his way through the Crownlands and eventually through the Stormlands as well. Helaena had offered him a position, any position he wanted, but the Baratheon had declined. Playing the Great Game, Robert had scoffed, was not what he was meant for. The man loved to hunt and drink and perhaps fuck in-between or at the same time. The matters of court were not something he wanted to invest his time into.

Helaena had hugged both of them goodbye, secretly thankful that they were leaving. At least this way it would look less like she was aligning herself with the leaders of the rebels and traitors who a tried to take the capital, no matter how grateful she was that they had killed her biggest obstacles and bent the knee.

"What could my mother possibly want?" Helaena asked, sitting down and pouring herself a glass of wine from a pitcher that had already been tested.

She poured Jaime a glass as well and slid the cup over to him. The metal dragging across the wood table, making a scratching noise, before coming to a stop before the letter.

Jaime picked up the wine and took a sip, pushing the letter forward to Helaena who lightly picked it up with her fingers. Taking a knife that was concealed on her thigh, Helaena broke open the seal—the location of said knife caused Jaime to raise an eyebrow but he did not comment about his Queen's decision to hide a knife on herself. It was prudent, particularly paranoid, but prudent of her given the circumstances.

"Perhaps to see how your fare?" Jaime suggested, but by the look on Helaena's face it was anything but that.

Rolling her eyes at the contents of the letter, Helaena stood and walked over to the hearth and threw the later into the fire.

"It seems I have a new baby sister, Daenerys 'Stormborn' Targaryen," Helaena smiled ruefully before taking her wine cup and drinking what was left inside and pouring herself another.

Jaime bowed his head, "Congratulations my Queen, this is good news is it not?" the sentiment, insincere as it was, made Helaena's eye twitch.

Whatever happened to the Jaime Lannister who didn't care what he said because he didn't care what people thought? Who was this person before her? The same man who, at just five and ten, visiting the Crownlands in the time before he joined her Father's Kingsguard, had laughed when she, only ten at the time, had fallen off her horse while riding back from the woods?

"Good god Kingslayer, I remember you as decidedly less boring!" Helaena exclaimed, startling Jaime who also flinched at the much hated moniker.

"When did you become a person who simpered to royalty? What happened to all the snarky little comments you used to make? What did you used to call me?" Helaena asked but obviously by the way her eyes lit up she remembered, "Ah yes, Princess Underfoot, because I was always getting under everyone's feet. Never in the place I was supposed to be and always causing trouble—you said it would be the death of me,"

"That was before..." the resounding smack of Helaena slamming her cup down onto the table caused Jaime to stop speaking.

"Before what?" Helaena exclaimed hotly, "Before you killed my father? Before I became Queen? You've never been the most proper person and now it's all 'Yes, my Queen', 'As you wish, my Queen', are you overcompensating now? Because you broke your oath?" there it was, the infamous temper of Helaena Targaryen.

Most of the Knights of the Queensguard wondered where it had gone once Helaena took the throne, she was acting much too calm in comparison to her usual self by far, Jaime (although furious) was somewhat glad to see that the former Princess had not changed at all.

At each declaration, Jaime Lannister flinched but he could also feel his anger rise. It was all her fault, Helaena had said that she was going to tell the whole city what he had done. And now one moon later and still no announcement had been made and none of the rest of the members of the Queensguard were speaking to him. Ser Arthur Dayne wouldn't even look at him.

"You said you would tell people the truth! You said there would be a feast in my honor! And now, now no one will even look at me without disdain or sneering at my very presence as I walk into the room," remembering himself, the Kingslayer turned a hot red at having realized he just yelled at a Queen.

Helaena, for her part, remained silent and merely watched the man before her become more and more embarrassed at his outburst. How out of character, for Jaime Lannister to be embarrassed about anything. But perhaps, given the events of the past few days he had wanted to turn a leaf and having failed at that caused him severe shame. Obviously everyone was going to continue to look at him as if he was the most despicable person on Earth unless someone else intervened.

"I can remove you from the Queensguard," the statement so nonchalantly commented, once fully registered to Jaime, made him turn white. "You would be the next Lord Paramount of the Westerlands and Casterly Rock—there would be no more sneering, no more 'Kingslayer' as the only title people address you as," the offer, to Helaena, was a reasonable one.

It was also offered jokingly, as she knew that the Kingslayer would never accept, unless she could somehow convince him. It made the atmosphere between them lighter, Jaime knowing now that Helaena was not going to lose her temper over his outburst. Helaena finding joy, for the first time in a while, at teasing someone who didn't mind sassing back.

Jaime spluttered a bit but composed himself, before taking on his signature smirk, "And fulfill all my father's dreams? What would you take me for, my Queen?"

What Jaime didn't know, was that Tywin Lannister had come in earlier and negotiated for the Queen not to hold the feast—or at the very least not even mention Jaime's name. In return, he would set up a betrothal between his house and hers and thereby making the Lannister gold available to her.

Now that she had learned that the unborn child that her mother carried was a girl, Helaena could see her plans coming together. Brand new baby Daenerys would marry either Tyrion or Jaime—depending on if the Kingslayer accepted her offer. It would tie their family together, secure their loyalty or at the very least afford Helaena a reliable spy within the Lannister family.

If Jaime was heir again, Danaerys would marry him and at the very least she wouldn't have the unfortunate future of marrying an Imp. Jaime, after all, was renowned for his beauty was he not?

And Viserys, well Viserys would have to secure one of the houses in the Crownlands. Helaena had yet to reward them for their loyalty, but it was on the top of her list of agendas. Perhaps one of them would have an extra daughter they were willing to sacrifice to Essos and be Viserys' wife.

"Think of all the people who called you Kingslayer—you can have their heads up on spikes for even looking at you wrongly," amusement flashed across the Queen's face but the cold look in Helaena's eyes showed to Jaime just how serious the Queen was.

Shaking his head warily, Jaime could not think of a worse fate. The Kingsguard, although at first an avenue to be closer to Cersei, was his life now. There had been no greater honor to him than the day Arthur Dayne had wrapped him in his Kingsguard cloak.

"I'd rather not deal with all the ladies of the court who want to fulfill their fantasies of finding a handsome Lord to marry," Jaime joked, but was also very serious. There was only one woman he had eyes on and she wasn't going to ever be available to him in the eyes of the public.

"Don't you want a family? A lady wife and heirs for Casterly Rock? I know it's something your father has always dreamed for you…to give it to Tyrion instead—that must bruise the Great Lion's pride very much," the observation was not far off.

Queen Helaena had witnessed first hand quite a few times, during their visits, to just how much disdain Tywin Lannister felt for his youngest son. Not only because of his Imp nature but because of how much potential he was wasting (much like Robert, really) with all his drinking and whoring.

"Maybe once, a long time ago," Jaime admitted, not sure why he was confessing himself to Helaena, only thinking that it felt right at the moment, "But I'm not a green boy anymore, I know exactly what I want,"

Helaena rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You've only been alive a little over two decades and you already know what you want for the rest of your days?"

"Aren't you the same?" countering quickly, Jaime stood and approached the Queen so that he was standing and looking down at Helaena from her seated position, "You're _the_ Queen now, it is what you will be doing for all of your days and the rest of your days. Isn't that what you wanted?"

The borderline playful air that had been between them quickly turned as Helaena's features shuttered into a cold mask, matching her eyes. Previously, at the very least, her face had belied a certain amusement in the conversation though her eyes remained dead to the world. Now, both aspects matched each other and Jaime knew he had probably stepped over some invisible line that no one had known about.

"Don't presume to know what I wanted, Kingslayer," Helaena spat out the name in a hiss, "My father and twin are dead. My mother and my living siblings are exiled. The last Targaryen in Westeros, stuck in the Red Keep surrounded by a group of traitors who would rather see me burned," a cruel smile graced Helaena's face now as she stood up causing Jaime to take a step back. "But I am the blood of the dragon, and fire does not burn dragons,"

Scanning the Queen's face, Jaime could tell she was nearing the peak of one of her rage-fueled moments, where the tangents got longer and her words started slurring together—no doubt soon she would begin throwing things at walls and breaking the objects in her room.

The Kingslayer had only been witnessed to it a couple of times, the other Knights in the Queensguard more so when Helaena was still growing up. Her temper was legendary, yes. But the word around the Keep, around the Crownlands really, didn't do it justice as her Father (when he was still in the right mind) had sworn all the men in his Kingsguard to secrecy and had only allowed his daughter a few trusted ladies in waiting who he knew wouldn't report Helaena's…condition…to anyone.

 _Fire is in my daughter's blood, it has kissed her soul, more than any of my other children. Helaena is truly a dragon, and a dragon is not to be tempered with._ The words the Mad King had spoken rang in Jaime's ears now as he watched rage consume Helaena.

The Queen was closer to madness than any of the men in the Queensguard would like to admit or even were aware of really. The only one really privy to how far gone Helaena was, was perhaps herself. Which is why she was taking such great pains in public to not seem so, to be reasonable and kind. Nothing like her Father, or any of her stark, raving mad relatives. She needed to be great. She had the most potential to be great. But, she could not let the rage of the fire consume her.

People only thought her temper was bad, but manageable. She had never done anything unreasonable as punishment to anyone—only threatening it sometimes. Helaena was seen as hot-headed by the public and yet they adored her still for all the charity work she would do with the poor. She was kind and a fierce defender of them and so Helaena had their love.

However, in the privacy of her own room, with no one but Jaime Lannister who had slain her father (but didn't she want him gone? The question made Helaena's head fuzzy and she shook the thought out) Helaena found no reason to temper herself.

Jaime began backing away, as Helaena turned and was looking for the sharpest object to throw at him, and the Kingslayer quickly made his exit—leaving Helaena to her anger as he and the rest of the men were ordered to do by the Mad King.

 _Leave her to herself, let the fire burn bright and when she settles, speak nothing of it to anyone._ The King had loved his daughter, dearly. And had only wanted to protect her. Protect her, by isolating her.

As Jaime exited the room, he ran into Ser Oswell Whent, who was undoubtedly here for his shift and was about to enter the Queen's chambers. Taking Oswell's arm, Jaime shook his head, and the Knight (though still disdainful of the Kingslayer) understood full well what was going on and planted himself outside the room instead of entering. No one, not even Oswell who had known the Queen since she was a babe, would enter the room—knowing it would likely mean serious injury or their death.

"I'll have Grand Maester Pycelle bring in some milk of poppy. She'll want to rest," Jaime informed Oswell, who merely nodded. Casting one last glance at the door of the Queen's chambers, which were thankfully reinforced with Valyrian steel and thus unable to allow sound through, Jaime left and started making his way to find the Grand Maester.

Those were the only words to pass between the Knights. No one spoke of Helaena's moments and no one outside of the Queensguard and her ladies knew now. And that's just how Helaena and Aerys had wanted it to stay.

…

Helaena opened her eyes, blinking blearily until they were no longer stuck together. Staring up at the ceiling above her bed, Helaena rolled over and pressed her face against the pillows beneath her in an effort to drown out the light that was pouring in and causing her headache to worsen. Exhaustion had settled into her bones; weeks had passed but Lord Doran had yet to reply nor had he deigned to let anyone know if he was heading to King's Landing or not. Just a few days ago Olenna Tyrell had arrived and now Helaena had to deal constantly with her and her machinations.

What Helaena needed, reluctantly, was her family. But, her family was scattered to the edges of the globe. That, however, was her own doing. The conflicting thoughts warred in Helaena's head and made her see red once again. But the Queen quickly pressed herself further into her bed and breathed deeply, urging her body and mind to calm. A good, benevolent Queen could not succumb to fits of rage. A good, benevolent Queen needed to be cold and calculating in order to achieve what she wanted.

Taking a deep breath, Helaena stood up and walked to her wardrobe, preparing to dress herself in a new gown. She had dismissed her ladies in waiting for the mornings, knowing that if anyone were to attempt to speak to her before she was fully awake, would most likely end up with them occupying the Black Cells for a moon or two.

After pulling on the dress and tying her laces, Helaena dropped down to her knees and rummaged through the back of her wardrobe to pull out a wicker basket that lay in front of the chest that held the remaining two dragon eggs. Inside the wicker basket was Sunfyre, fast asleep and curled in the blankets that Helaena had ordered her ladies in waiting bring up. She was surprised that the dragon had been asleep for so long, but he was only technically an infant and thus probably required more sleep.

Running a finger down his spine, Helaena followed the trail of gold scales down Sunfyre's back, causing the little thing to shiver a bit and curl in on itself further. He would undoubtedly be waking up soon, which means he would want lots of meat and water to fill his stomach. At this point, Sunfyre was the size of a small cat, which was promising. Helaena wondered how large Sunfyre could possibly grow, considering that dragons never stopped growing.

The eggs, had been a gift, from Helaena's father. Given to her many, many moons ago—before the voices had completely taken over his mind. Aerys had always told Helaena that her soul was kissed by fire and that she was more dragon than any of her other siblings, thus she should be able to do what all recent Targaryens had failed to do: hatch dragon eggs. They had been locked in the King's personal vault, along with a store of petrified dragon eggs and a few other heirlooms passed down from the Targaryen dynasty. Swords and armor, jewels and books—all used and worn by previous Targaryens as far back as Aegon the Conqueror. No one knew of their existence during this era except for Aerys and Helaena, eventually, when her father had deemed to show her.

It seemed that for once, the Mad King was right. Helaena was the real dragon in the family and now she had a dragon son to prove her point. Moving to the door, Helaena beckoned one of her ladies in waiting to come near and ordered the woman to bring season less, seared meat and water. Without question, the woman merely curtsied and made her way to the kitchens.

Moving back to her wardrobe, and bending down to pick Sunfyre up from the wicker basket, Helaena moved toward the window and placed him down gently on the sill so that the dragon could bask in the sun. A knock on the door signaled to Helaena that her lady in waiting was back. And so Helaena quickly retrieved the food before closing the door firmly shut and locking it.

Placing the plate and goblet by Sunfyre, Helaena rubbed the dragon patiently, waiting for him to wake up. Eventually, Sunfyre did wake. Slowly, he blinked his eyes lazily opened and revealed his red eyes that were adorned with specks of gold.

"Hello my little love," holding out a piece of meat to Sunfyre, Helaena waited for him to grab it from her hand, "I've got you some food,"

Sunfyre immediately snatched the piece of meat from Helaena's hand and devoured it quickly. The gold dragon nuzzled Helaena's hand for more, and the Queen quickly picked up another small slice from the tray and fed it to Sunfyre. Helaena watched the small beast fondly, wondering when it would be prudent to let everyone know she had a dragon in her possession. Eventually, Sunfyre would be too large to hide and he would need to start feeding on larger, more alive pieces of meat.

It would be essential, to have somewhere spacious that all three dragons could live in and rest, be safe. And maybe, once Helaena did some more research, she could find a way to reanimate the petrified dragon eggs and really restore the Targaryen Dynasty to what it once had been.

A knock on the door interrupts Helaena's thoughts and she quickly grabs Sunfyre. Placing him gently in the wicker basket, Helaena encouraged her dragon son to stay quiet before placing him in the back of the wardrobe and closing the doors.

"Enter," Helaena called as she stood and smoothed out her dress, approaching the doors to her room to see who it was.

Euron Greyjoy swaggered in, the over-confident pep in his step that Helaena had become used to seeing. The man had been stalking her for the greater part of seven days and the Queen had yet to find a way to deter him. Even with threats of disembowelment the man stuck around to pester the Queen.

"My Queen," Euron bowed lowly, "You are looking as beautiful as ever," the sugar in the Greyjoy's voice made Helaena's toothache but the Queen merely grimaced and nodded in thanks for the compliment.

"Is there something I can assist you with, Lord Greyjoy?"

"Please my Queen, call me Euron," the Greyjoy flashed what Helaena supposed he thought was a charming smile, "I wanted to see if you were open to a turn about the gardens with me," arm outstretched, Euron waited for the Queen to take it.

Helaena's eyes narrowed a fraction before a saccharine smile spread across her lips and she placed a delicate on Euron's arm—her fingers meeting the soft black leather that composed his outer shirt.

"I'm afraid I must meet with my Small Council but you are welcome to walk with me there…Euron," the name was said rather reluctantly and Helaena internally rolled her eyes at the delighted smile that stretched across Euron's face.

The man was all too erratic, even for the likes of her, and Helaena couldn't wait until he left back for the Iron Islands. Now that Balon had been named Master of Ships, Euron would have to leave soon in order to rule in his place.

"Of course my Queen, I would be honored," inclining his head just a tad in deference, the younger Greyjoy brother began to lead the Queen out into the hall.

The pair walked past Ser Jonothor Darry who had finally recovered from the Battle of the Trident. Though the Knight still walked with a slight limp from his healing leg, Ser Darry had insisted that he was once again fit to serve the Queensguard. Once Helaena and Euron exited her chambers, the Knight quickly stood and followed after the pair.

Helaena walked rather uncomfortably through the Keep, heading toward the meeting room with Euron Greyjoy, who was no doubt blathering about something or another. Probably about the number of whores he'd bedded, uncouth as Euron Greyjoy was known to be it wouldn't have surprised Helaena. The Targaryen Queen didn't really bother to pay much mind. She was just anxious to get back to Sunfyre.

Once the pair arrived, Helaena quickly slipped her hand from the crook of Euron's arm and made her way in without so much as a farewell. The action did not put off Euron who quickly called a farewell to his Queen before bowing rather exaggeratedly.

Entering the meeting room of her Small Council, Helaena was the last to arrive. All the Masters had already taken seats and were being poured pitchers of wine by their cup bearers. The head of the table was empty, as they were no doubt waiting for her. The Lords chattered amongst themselves. It was Olenna Tyrell, who Helaena had named her Royal Advisor (in order to reward House Tyrell for their loyalty) only a few days ago, that noticed the Queen entered first.

The Tyrell Matriarch cleared her throat and when all attention was on her, Olenna nodded toward the door. There Helaena waited, in a rare show of patience and as all the Lords finally took note of her presence, they abruptly stood up and bowed—muttering their profuse apologies for not having noticed her initially.

"Sit. We have much to discuss," Helaena ordered, taking a seat for herself but declining the glass of wine a cupbearer tried to hand her.

"What is it my Queen, that you wanted to inform your Small Council of?" Lord Varys inquired, genuinely curious, as the Queen had been particularly tightlipped of any and all plans she wanted to pursue in favor of seeking counsel with only herself thus far.

"Someone will need to oversee Dragonstone, my family's seat, until such time in which I have an heir," the news was quite a shock to the men around the table, who had yet to hear their Queen discuss anything of Dragonstone or the mere mention of having an heir.

Immediately, all were alert, as whoever the Queen married would be the Prince Consort and thus father to the future King of the Seven Kingdoms. Any subsequent children would undoubtedly inherit Dragonstone and become the Lord Paramount there. Nearly all the men in the room had sons, only some of which were old enough for the Queen to marry and the idea of seating their grandsons on the throne was enough to make most men in the room salivate.

"I have decided to name Falyse of House Stokeworth," the announcement was met with an uproarious reaction but Helaena continued to speak over the arguing voices, "Until the time in which a second son or daughter is born to inherit Dragonstone. House Stokeworth was loyal to my family, up until the very end and as one of the Houses in the Crownlands I have deemed it necessary to reward them,"

"Falyse is the heir to House Stokeworth and a renown lush. How exactly do you expect her to rule over Dragonstone?" Olenna Tyrell's voice, with her tongue sharp as ever, cut through the swath of other voices and caused all the other men to be silenced.

"Her mother is alive, isn't she?" Helaena raised an eyebrow, "You know as well as I that despite her propensity to be in her cups quite often, that Falyse has a shrewd mind. Furthermore, she has no love for Castle Stokeworth. Unlike her younger sister Lollys who I am sure will not mind taking over the minding of the Castle with her mother until her older sister can come back,"

"But my Queen," Balon Greyjoy interrupted, "Surely there are better options,"

"Oh, please let me know who Balon. And if you suggest your brother I might just have to have your cut tongue," the Queen hissed, narrowing her eyes as Balon stuttered to come up with a response.

"That would not be wise, your Majesty. How is Euron Greyjoy to govern the Iron Islands without a tongue?" Tywin Lannister quipped, attempting to diffuse the situation between the Queen and her Master of Ships.

"Well if he knew his letters, I would say through written instruction. But that's a talent rather lacked by all who come from the Iron Islands," the Queen muttered under her breath only loud enough so that her and her Hand could hear, causing the Great Lion to chuckle under his breath as well.

"Summerhall and the Dragon pit will be restored. The taxes and tariffs levied upon goods and trade will be increased by 5% from it's original 5% and all the Houses in the Seven Kingdoms will be paying now 20% instead of 15% in order to pay for the construction. Think of it as war reparations…despite swearing your loyalty you all need to put some…skin into the game," Helaena drawled slowly and the news brought a new outrage to the Lords that none were willing to voice as they were wary of antagonizing the Queen and make it seem like they were unwilling to pay for their parts in the rebellion.

"My Queen, the commoners are already paying heftily in taxes—any more and there will be more on the streets than there are now," Varys reasoned, ever the champion for the people.

"I can see your worry Lord Varys," Helaena soothed, "And that is why the condition I am placing on the increases is that half of that percentage increase must be paid by the Great Houses directly—to disobey is to participate in fraudulent transactions and results in a sentence of 3 moons in the Black Cells. Whether you are a Lord or a Lady of a Great House or one of the minor houses. It doesn't matter,"

"My Queen, perhaps this isn't the…most prudent of ideas," Mace Tyrell objected, the rest of the Lords at the table subtly nodding along with him. None of them wanted to pay more taxes than they already were.

"And how would you like to pay for the damage that has been done throughout the Kingdoms Lord Tyrell? Damage done by your armies, by all your armies?" Helaena looked around the room at the Lords who would no longer look her in the eye, knowing that she was right.

"Summerhall and the Dragon pit aren't the only structures in need of restoration. Part of King's Landing is still in pieces because of the Rebellion. With the added money from the taxes, the people who work on the reconstruction can be paid, causing them to gain more money that they will more than likely spend and thus will land in the pockets of vendors and in the end be back in your overly large pockets anyway," Helaena rolled her eyes at the ignorance of it all.

These were the richest men in the Seven Kingdoms, afraid to give up a few hundred gold coins each month when Helaena knew for a fact they had millions. It was spare change to these men and yet they were griping and would rather tempt a peasant rebellion and leave the Seven Kingdoms war torn.

"You forget that these Seven Kingdoms are composed mostly of the commoners and without them there would be no work so unless you wish to reconstruct Summerhall yourself I suggest you open up the Tyrell Treasury and spare a couple hundred gold coins that I know you won't miss anyway,"

"It is not unreasonable my Queen, especially if these increases only last until all the damage from the Rebellion is restored and the reconstruction ends. As long as it does not extend any further, I see no reason as to why there should be any objection," the gods' bless Jon Arryn who had decided to defend his foster daughter. Helaena was eternally grateful to the man.

"Of course," Helaena nodded, "Just until the reconstruction is done. Then everything can return to normal. I do not want to overextend any of the Houses or cause them great stress. But we must do something in order to repair the Seven Kingdoms. And you all forget, technically I am also the Lady of Dragonstone and thus will also be paying war reparations as well. Do not think I would let you all do this without having to endure the same. This matter is important to me and I want to see it come to fruition,"

"I do not see why it cannot be done," Olenna Tyrell assented, glaring at her soon for daring to voice his opposition earlier, "It sounds reasonable and as long as these are the only demands to come of the Great Houses for their part in reparations I do not see it as something to panic over,"

"There is the matter…of an heir," interrupting the agreeable atmosphere that was starting to settle in the room, Lord Tywin managed to pull out the elephant in the room for everyone to see, "You have yet to find a proper Consort, my Queen,"

"We should hold a tourney! In order to find a proper suitor," Mace Tyrell eagerly suggested but was quickly shot down by his mother.

"The Seven Kingdoms and the Crown are trying to pay for war reparations and you want to hold a tourney?"

"It would not be prudent to spend money in more frivolous matters such as a tourney," Lord Tywin sniffed as if he had smelled something foul, "Perhaps we should simply present you with all the suitable bachelors then my Queen and you can pick out of the lot,"

"But who shall see the Queen first?"

"How many sons does each family get to present?"

"Only the eldest son should be presented"

"But then one of the Houses would be left without an heir if they were the only male!"

And on and on did the Lords debate the option. Olenna Tyrell cast a shrewd glance around the room before her eyes rested on the quiet Queen Helaena. The woman looked to be barely holding in her temper, fists clenched at her side but hid slightly behind her back. Lips thinned and pressed together. Purple eyes filled with a flashing flame that would not settle. Obviously the Queen did not appreciate the spectacle that the men were creating now.

"That is enough," the Queen barked once her patience finally wore thin, startling all the men quiet. "I will pick a Consort when I deem it an appropriate time. Until then, let us only worry about the state of the Seven Kingdoms," the pronouncement did nothing to lesson the weight that all the Lords suddenly felt to promote their sons as best they could to the Queen.

But none voiced their concerns further, choosing to instead focus on the task the Queen had given them for fear of invoking her wrath.

…

"You'll need to find yourself alone with her, get close to her. You're clever Willas, and charming. Far cleverer and more charming than your father. I have faith that you can win her," in the middle of the rose gardens, Olenna Tyrell sat under a canopy with a view of the ocean behind her.

Willas Tyrell stood nervously before his grandmother, who had been plotting and scheming the moment that they had informed her Helaena Targaryen had a crown placed on her head. The eldest Tyrell son shifted his weight onto his good leg. While he had never been very bitter over it or with Oberyn Martell, Willas couldn't help be very conscious of it now. Especially if he was supposed to win over the Queen.

"Grandmother, Queen Helaena is far too perceptive to not seen past what we will be trying to do. I'll be lucky if she doesn't laugh me away when I ask for a turn about the gardens and hobble the entire time," for the first time, shame burned through Willas at his predicament and his face flushed red with embarrassment at the thought of the Queen laughing at him.

"Her father was mad and her family inbred. I believe the last thing Queen Helaena would complain about is one slightly crippled leg. It has no baring on your ability to sire heirs," the Queen of Thorns informed her grandson bluntly—causing Willas to stutter as if he was a green boy.

And he was, Willas had never been particularly inclined to the slightly freer and promiscuous lifestyle that his younger sister and brother practiced. At eight and ten, Willas Tyrell was a proper Lord that any Lady would be lucky to have, save for his leg. At five and ten, and the same age as the Queen, Margery already had much more experience than her elder brother.

"Grandmother, she is the Queen. She will have Lords from all of the Seven Kingdoms vying for her hand," the protest fell onto deaf ears as the Queen of Thorns simply reprimanded her grandson for thinking so negatively.

"You are a Tyrell. The future Lord Paramount of the Reach and the Heir to Highgarden. The only person who could possibly outshine you would be Jaime Lannister but he has sworn Kingsguard vows and will never be able to marry or have children,"

"Except the Queen released Ser Barristan Selmy from his vows of celibacy," Willas pointed out, happy to win a point against his grandmother, "The Knight is now courting Ashara Dayne and is likely to propose any day now. Who's to say that the Queen doesn't release Jaime Lannister from his vows and chooses him as her Consort instead?"

Olenna shook her head, "He would still not inherit the Westerlands and Casterly Rock. Willas you have the unfortunate inclination to think that this marriage would be about love and attraction. The Queen needs a politically advantageous marriage," the Tyrell matriarch informed her grandson, "Marriage with someone like Jaime Lannister would result in nothing. He is heir to nothing. When Tywin Lannister dies, so does the prestige of the Westerlands or do you really think the Imp can carry out the job as successfully?"

"You never know grandmother, perhaps Tyrion Lannister will surprise us all," Willas's statement causes the Queen of Thorns to laugh and the Heir to Highgarden is momentarily offended.

"Perhaps he will but someone like Tyrion Lannister is not competition. With the way he makes his way through whores, the Queen would have so many bastards to contend with the very thought of it is a political nightmare," Olenna sighed, tired of her grandson's obtuse tendencies.

"We need not even consider the Lannisters, Willas. The gods' be willing Helaena will be blind to the way that the Kingslayer stares at her and she will pick you and you will put a son in her and that son will be King of the Seven Kingdoms,"

"The Kingslayer stares at her?"

Olenna Tyrell groaned at the incompetence of the men around her.

…

"We will need to get contractors and architects hired in order to begin the reconstruction work," Tywin sat by his Queen's side as she was still sitting at the head of the table in the meeting room, even after all the other people in the Small Council had left.

"Hire them from Pentos, Tyrosh, Braavos if you must but I would rather not go anywhere near the Iron Bank," Helaena answered carelessly, staring listlessly in front of her.

"You want to invite foreigners in to design everything?"

"I want Valyria in the Seven Kingdoms. It is, after all, the home of my ancestors," Helaena commented wistfully, Tywin noticing how her eyes gained a far-off look about them.

Clearing his throat, Tywin watched as the Queen's eyes lazily moved over to him, "My Queen, there is still the matter of your Consort,"

"Trying to push your sons on me Tywin?" Helaena deadpanned, "Taking advantage of your place as Hand in order to try and shape my leanings?"

While the Queen was merely teasing, Tywin Lannister, who did not know his Queen all too well, did not know that and was thus silent and attempting to articulately answer his way through so that it would not make his motivation seem so obvious.

"I am joking Tywin, please wherever did your sense of humor go?" Helaena asked, although she already knew the answer.

A piece of Tywin Lannister had died the day Tyrion was born and Joanna died. Everyone knew that. Helaena wasn't sure if she would have preferred him as her father or her own, considering they both had their faults. One perhaps a little bloodier than the other.

"It is a serious matter my Queen," the deflection was noted by Helaena but she did not point it out, "An heir is essential to securing your legacy and your rule,"

"Is it? And here I thought it was my efforts in trying to contain my urge to behead all the rebels and be a good, benevolent Queen that would win me a fine legacy. I never knew that I would need an heir in order to continue my name," Helaena quipped sarcastically though she wished the former was true. She wished she alone was enough, but as a Queen with no King she needed an heir.

"Think on it. All the Great Houses will be sending their sons in order to try and win your favor. Whether you have a tourney or not is up to your digression but the Lords will be coming and they will be looking to become your Consort," Tywin stopped and considered a moment before voicing his thought, "Unless you wish to marry your brother? I understand it is a well practiced Targaryen tradition,"

Helaena barked out a laugh, "Marry my little brother? Little, icky Viserys Targaryen who cries when he doesn't get an extra tart for dessert? Perhaps you do still have some humor left in your Tywin Lannister. Please, tell me another one of your fine jokes,"

"I would like your permission to bring my daughter Cersei to King's Landing,"

Frowning, Helaena leaned back and away from her Hand and crossed her arms across her chest, "That was not an amusing joke. You'll have to work on that," the Queen reprimanded.

Tywin bowed his head mockingly, "Of course my Queen,"

"As for Cersei," Helaena sighed, "Well she's what age? Twenty and not married yet? Fuck bringing her to King's Landing, let's have her betrothed," a wicked gleam entered the Queen's eye, "I know, let's have _her_ marry Viserys,"

"My Queen—" Tywin stuttered but was swiftly cut off by Helaena once again.

"I am not actually serious Tywin. Fine, have Cersei come to King's Landing. Let's see if we can find her a proper husband first before we begin speaking of my predicament. She is after all, much older than I," the command, although phrased subtly, was met by a short and brisk nod from Tywin.

"Of course my Queen,"

…

Grand Maester Pycelle inspected the body that was brought to him, looking at the stone-like flesh of the dead man before him. Guards had brought the man from the outer gates of King's Landing, after he had tried to ambush them. The guards had immediately killed him and brought him to the Grand Maester, unsure of what kind of disease the man had and whether or not it could infect other people.

Stone-like skin. The Grand Maester had only ever read about it, never having seen it personally nor during his time as a Maester. The creatures that had this type of affliction were known to mainly inhabit Essos, and thus the Grand Maester was curious as to how someone with this disease could get so far West.

Peeling back the stone area, the Grand Maester was not surprised to find actual flesh, as the books he had read said he would. Obviously before the illness had afflicted him, the man had been truly human just a few short months ago. Otherwise, the stone would have permeated to his bones should he have been left alone long enough.

"Should we tell the Queen, Grand Maester?" Pycelle's apprentice asked, standing some ways away from his mentor and the dead body, feeling queasy at the sight before him.

Pycelle shook his head, "Not just yet. We don't know if this is a one-time occurrence or not. To do so before we know would mean to worry the Queen unnecessarily,"

"How did it get here?"

"Probably stowed itself on one of the trading ships from Essos," Pycelle explained, "This sickness is characteristic of some of the rivers there. Nothing like this has been seen in Westeros before,"

"What if it infected other people before the guards managed to kill it?" the apprentice moved toward Pycelle, becoming curious and wanting to see the body himself.

"Then that would be an outbreak and would be deadly for the Seven Kingdoms if it is not contained," Pycelle observed, taking the piece of flesh off the body and placing it in a metal tin to examine later, "We'll just have to make sure it doesn't get to that point,"

The apprentice glanced doubtfully between Pycelle and the stone body for a brief moment before returning to his duties.

…

Cersei Lannister had wanted to marry Rhaegar Targaryen once upon a time. The dream of becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms arresting her as a young Lady and even now. But now, there was a Queen on the throne and a Queen had no use for a high-born lady.

Queen Helaena was even known not to take any companions amongst the high-born ladies, always being handled by the same ladies in waiting that her father had assigned to her when she was a babe and only ever in the company of her Queensguard.

Thus, Cersei Lannister walked into King's Landing not expecting to become close friends with the Queen. She had, after all, ignored her in favor of lavishing attention on Rhaegar when the Prince was still very much alive. The best case scenario Cersei envisioned for herself was that she got to see Jaime for a brief time before finding a tolerable, high-born husband from a rich house.

And despite all her indifferences to the Queen and having dismissed Helaena when she was still a Princess, Cersei still felt a shiver of trepidation as she walked into the Red Keep and up the length of the throne room to curtsey in front of Helaena.

The Queen had chosen to wear her house colors today. The Crown sat delicately on top of her head, gold and glistening from Cersei's point of view. Helaena's gown was distinctly Southern in style, tight with a plunging neckline and little to no back. A swirl of black myrish lace and a red sash tied so that it ran across her chest, the Queen looked incredibly regal. In her traditional Lannister gown, for the first time, Cersei felt incredibly small. There was an aura about Helaena Targaryen that commanded respect and also made others take a step back, even when sitting completely calm upon the Iron Throne.

"May I present my only daughter Cersei, my Queen," Tywin Lannister indicated with a wave of a hand and Cersei curtsied once again.

Helaena stared down at Cersei who was still holding her curtsy and waiting to be acknowledged. This woman would have married Rhaegar, had it not been for Elia Martell. She would have had the same fate as Helaena's good sister though, and all thanks to Lyanna Stark the Queen sneered internally. However, that did not make Helaena forget all the time Cersei had snubbed her when the Queen was but a young Princess, in favor of following Rhaegar.

"Cersei Lannister. Rise," at the Queen's command, Cersei rose, "Welcome to King's Landing. A room has been prepared for you, it runs adjacent with your father's in the Tower of the Hand. I hope when you see it, it is to your liking,"

"I thank you, your Majesty, for your kindness," Cersei simpered, although inside the lioness was pacing about her cage waiting for an attack and impatient with the process of things.

Cersei firmly believed it should have been her sitting on the Iron Throne with Rhaegar by her side, at the very least. Alone would have been preferable but that was not the way the cards had been dealt for the only Lannister daughter.

"Right. Well, go on your way Cersei Lannister. That is all for now," Helaena dismissed and immediately began addressing the concerns of the next people in line who were to speak to her.

Cersei bowed quickly and got out of the way, fading into the crowds to watch the proceedings as she was not ready to leave for her rooms just yet.

Looking up, Cersei finally spotted Jaime, who was standing in a line with the other Queensguard in front of the dais. Her brother looked like a stately Lion, decked in his Queensguard cloak and armor. She tried catching his eye, but Jaime had his eyes firmly cast forward—every now and then looking to his Queen when she would address him directly. It irked Cersei to see Jaime pay no attention to her at all but instead direct all his notice toward the Queen.

A group of guards dragged two men and threw them to their knees in front of the Queen in front of the whole court. The men were obviously high-born from the way that they were dressed and everyone listened with rapt attention as the guards began telling the Queen of the plot against her life that they had discovered. Cersei leaned forward, listening with rapt interest.

"My Queen, these two men were seen trying to take the wildfire they unquestionably stolen and plant it under the Red Keep," one guard spoke, he was the son of one of the vassal houses, and for the life of Helaena should could not remember his name.

The two men stayed on their knees, not looking toward their Queen whose eyes were boring them down. Silence loomed across the throne room, no one speaking in order to try and determine what the Queen's verdict would be to a pair of would-be traitors.

"Well, you have heard the crimes pitted against you—do you have anything to say to defend yourself House Rosby?" the Queen was reclined into her chair, tapping her fingers against the arms of the Iron Throne. Helaena waited impatiently for the men before her to answer.

The elder man, Gyles Rosby, seemed to find his bravery and got up from his knees and stood tall. A look of defiance spread across his face as he spat at the Queen, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"You're nothing," the declaration stuns many of the Lords and Ladies present as no one would dare speak to the Queen in such a way. Helaena for her part has yet to respond to the insult and everyone waited with great anticipation to see how Gyles Rosby would dig his grave further.

"Aerys was our King, Rhaegar was his heir! And here you let the man who stabbed your father in the back to stand beside you as your Queensguard! The dishonor upon your family! You shame the Targaryen name!" at each declaration, Gyles Rosby's face became more and more red no doubt because of his rising anger. Still, Helaena did not look overly fazed.

"I shame the Targaryen name?" Helaena laughed coldly, "And who do you think you are to determine something like this? Please, Lord Rosby tell me who you suppose to judge and condemn for shaming her own House,"

Lord Gyles began a long tirade, naming her crimes against Helaena's own house and essentially defending why he thought it was appropriate to try and get rid of her. The man wouldn't stop once he started and Helaena made no move to try and stop him. His son, however, looked extremely uncomfortable to be caught in this position which Helaena noticed.

"And do you think the same way as your Father, Lord Alton?" at this point Helaena looked particularly bored with the proceedings and Cersei watched the Queen's face with fascination. Here was a threat to her rule and Queen Helaena looked barely fazed. Men had attempted an assassination of her life and yet she didn't seem angered at all.

Lord Alton Rosby, the eldest son of Gyles Rosby, looked reluctant to answer. He looked reluctant to be there really, so much so that almost everyone in the room could tell except his father who was still spitting vitriol at Helaena.

"I must do as my Father bid…my Queen," the supplication is enough, Helaena seems to have come to a decision in her mind.

Rising from the throne, Helaena stands fully upright and casts her eyes throughout the court and arrests the attention of all the Lords and Ladies as well as all the servants flitting about. It shut all the whispers, as those who were speaking waited for Helaena's verdict, even Lord Gyles who still had some semblance of respect for the Crown stopped his tirade.

"My Father, during his prime, was a great man and a good King. My brother an even greater man and he would have been a brilliant King. There is no denying that," Helaena spoke in a casual tone softly, so much so that people had to lean in to hear her.

"However, they committed atrocious crimes, as all men are capable of, against the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. And they were punished accordingly. As I have said before, royal blood does not make one exempt from punishment when speaking of life and death," waiting a moment, Helaena let the statement sink in amongst the crowd before continuing.

"However, their punishment was cast because my father killed two Lords of House Stark with no just reason and my brother dishonored House Baratheon and lost the duel against Robert Baratheon in turn. What you have presented me with Lord Gyles is treason, in its purest form and the obvious punishment would be death to you, your son, and the extinction of your House," the blasé tone in which Helaena delivered her verdict still sent both father and son completely white. Immediately the hall broke out in furious whispers that were silenced as Helaena began to speak again.

"However, I am merciful. And I am not so stupid to not realize who truly perpetrated the crime. Therefore," walking down, Helaena's gown swished at her feet as she approached Alton Rosby, her Queensguard standing at attention and waiting for some kind of false movement.

"Submit to me Alton Rosby and you will be the new Lord of House Rosby. I will not punish you for your father's crimes and you _will_ be loyal to the Crown, to _me_ ," Lord Gyles sputtered at what he perceived to be Helaena's audacity, immediately rejecting the idea for his son and spitting more vitriol at the Queen-causing several members of her Queensguard to approach him and attempt to silence him.

Jaime Lannister got there first and was about to hit Lord Gyles over the head but a look from Queen Helaena stops him. Pleased to see that Jaime would not pursue injuring Lord Gyles, Helaena directed her attentions back to Lord Alton. Cersei was stunned at the interaction. First, at how fast Jaime had moved in order to protect Queen Helaena. But then at the Queen, who seemed to be able to arrest Jaime's attention and control him without even speaking a word.

"Lord Alton?" it took a mere conflicted moment of looking from his furious father to the calm Queen for Lord Alton Rosby to decide his fate and the fate of his house. Bending down on one knee, Lord Alton Rosby swore fealty and everlasting loyalty toward Queen Helaena Targaryen.

Helaena's face remained carefully blank and she turned all her attentions now toward the elder Lord Rosby. "For crimes against the Crown and attempted treason I sentence you to be strung along the walls of King's Landing by your toes. And when your body finally becomes a corpse, you will be beheaded and your head displayed on a spike for all to see what exactly happens to real traitors of the Crown and House Targaryen," turning away, Helaena walked back to the Iron Throne as all the guards swarmed Lord Rosby and began dragging him screaming from the hall to fulfill his punishment.

Helaena sat unaffected and unperturbed on the Iron Throne, eyes watching blankly as Lord Gyles Rosby was dragged out of the hall screaming while his son stayed on his knees, eyes cast onto the ground and unwilling to watch his father be treated in such a way.

From her place amongst the Lords and Ladies, Cersei's eyes widened and she turned back to look at Queen Helaena who still seemed to be so unfazed. Never had she seen such indifference. In the few times that Cersei been to court, when something of this nature was presented to Aerys the King had either gone into a pique of anger and indignation and later on before he was killed, he had laughed as bodies burned. But in comparison, Queen Helaena looked practically uninterested. Cersei couldn't decide which was more unsettling.

Lord Commander Barristan Selmy approached his Queen and whispered in her ear. A brisk nod was all that was needed to signal Helaena's attentions and send Selmy running to fulfill his task.

Watching the face of every Lord and Lady in the hall, Helaena sat back in the throne and smiled for the first time, "Who's next?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi Everyone! I appreciate all of you who have read and reviewed Helaena. It means a lot to me! I just want to let you all know that this story as well as all my others will be put on HIATUS for a couple of weeks as I am in the middle of my midterm season and have exams flying at me from every direction. Hopefully I will be back around Halloween. Until then, here is the much awaited chapter to tide you all over. PLEASE R &R, as I would love know to what you think! **

**xoxo**

 **M**

"These roses are pathetic," Helaena disparaged, taking a petal in her hand and tearing it from the flower. The petal was crushed between her finger tips and Helaena dropped it onto the stone ground beneath her.

Jaime rolled his eyes, Helaena had been in a fairly foul mood since the Rosby Incident and had taken to nitpicking everything about the gardens, about the Keep, about anything really as she was unwilling to show her displeasure in front of the Court, "You had your father plant them in Helaena. If you do not enjoy them, get them changed,"

She remembered that day, when her father had planted the roses in her favorite part of the gardens, in the southeast side by the sea, with the cliffs just a few feet away that allowed a person to look over the water and see the crashing waves—and any approaching ships should they appear. It had seemed like ages ago, far before she had left for the Vale, before the madness had started creeping in.

" _There!" Aerys declared, arms out wide and hands spread out to show his daughter what he had done, "Roses, just like you wanted—c'mere Princess,"_

 _Only six and still sleight for her age, Helaena giggled and ran delightedly away from her father as the King reached to catch her. Swinging her up into his arms, Aerys placed Helaena on his hip and carried her around to show her the renovations he had ordered to be done this area of the gardens._

" _The roses are there, and closer to the cliffs are the daisies and honeysuckle you loved from the Reach," Aerys pointed out, carrying his daughter around to show her everything, "Careful not to get too close to the edge though, the fences might be there but someone as small as you can still slip through on accident,"_

" _Yes Father," Helaena mumbled, leaning her head against her father's shoulder._

 _A thunder of footsteps and calls for both their names alerted the two that they were surely about to be interrupted. Which wasn't a surprise, there was always someone intruding on the time the two had together._

" _My King, our daughter should have been in her afternoon lessons," the Queen Rhaella made her way up to the pair, glancing passively at the redecoration that had been taken in the gardens, "Give her to the handmaidens so they can take her to her Septa,"_

" _But I don't want to go," Helaena complained in Aerys' ear, latching onto her father tighter and unwilling to let go even as her mother tried to grab her from him._

 _Aerys turned away from Rhaella, keeping Helaena from his wife's grasp, "I'm sure missing one day of lessons won't kill her,"_

 _Rhaella rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Rhaegar is at his lessons and in order to be a proper lady, Helaena needs to go to hers,"_

" _I don't want to be a proper lady! I want to learn how to fight with a sword like Ser Barristan and Ser Arthur!" Helaena declared, signaling for her father to put her down._

" _Of course you will sweetheart, it's only right that you learn how to protect yourself," Aerys chuckled, setting down his daughter who was fidgeting quite a lot._

 _The moment her feet touched the floor, Helaena ran into the thicke of the gardens, away from her mother's grasp, her handmaidens chasing after her._

" _You can't keep spoiling her like this. She's a Princess, and soon enough she'll be full grown and needs to know how to be a proper lady," Rhaella admonished harshly, displeased with the cavalier attitude Aerys had taken to raising their daughter._

" _She's also a Targaryen—she's not meant to be sipping tea and gossiping like all the rest of those vile witches do. Helaena's meant to rule, and conquer," Aerys insisted firmly, his mind flashing back to what the seer had declared to him when the twins had been born. Helaena would be the salvation of the Targaryen empire and he would raise her to achieve that goal—no matter what or who stood in the way._

" _Helaena's not meant to do anything but be a lady and eventually a wife. She's not going to be Queen—Rhaegar's already been promised to one of the Martell girls," trying to reason with her husband was a near impossible task but after all these years Rhaella still felt the need to try._

 _The Queen felt as if the King had been putting too much of his time into Helaena. Yes, she was their daughter but she was also a girl and a second-born at that. She wouldn't ever be Queen and focusing the time and energy on teaching her how to rule was a waste. Especially when Rhaegar was being neglected in such a way._

" _And Rhaegar doesn't care for matters of the State," Aerys countered, crossing his arms against his chest, his eyes flashing darkly, turning his usual purple a darker shade._

" _He's only six!" Rhaella defended fiercely._

" _And so is Helaena," Aerys pointed out, "But she's already so interested in our family history, in the matters of running an empire. Only six and she asked me just yesterday how our trade networks worked with the North if they were so far away,"_

" _You're giving her unreal expectations," huffing to herself, Rhaella turned away, "Now excuse me as I look for our wayward daughter,"_

 _As the Queen walked away, Aerys made his way toward the aerie, sitting down on one of the chairs and sighing to himself tiredly. A rustle in the bushes alerted him that he was not alone but he did not look up. Helaena emerged, not a moment later, having heard the whole argument._

Sighing mournfully, Helaena started to walk away from the roses and Jaime followed by her side as he was her sworn guard for the afternoon, "Blue winter roses will never grow this far South. I remember bringing a pot of them back once, after visiting Winterfell,"

"I remember; I also distinctly remember a little love letter from a young Ned Stark attached to those flowers" Jaime teased, recalling the memory vividly.

"Stop," she glared contemptuously at Jaime, "Do you remember what happened to them?"

"They died within days and you were upset for weeks," Jaime supplied, remembering the events clearly as it was one of the larger moments of temper that Helaena had displayed in the past when he had just started the Kingsguard.

It was a shocking sight to see the Princess throw the pot at her Father's head, storming into his chambers and straight past the Kingsguard. At that time, the voices had not started and the King was still very much of sound mind. And so Aerys simply weathered the storm. Laughing lightly at the fire in his Helaena's soul. Praising Rhaella, his sister-wife, for creating such a perfect blaze before taking his daughter in his arms and holding her until she calmed down. The Princess pouted for weeks after the initial upset. Ned Stark had offered to send her more blue winter roses but Helaena had refused to answer any of his letters for weeks as well.

Things weren't the same after Aerys began to go mad. The King would violate Rhaella, accuse Rhaegar of conspiracy and treason at random intervals, and he had taken to striking his daughter in private and before the court. Public favor began to swing heavily toward Rhaegar and Helaena who bore the brunt of Aerys' psychosis during the beginning stages.

"I was stupid. I've been stupid. I knew that the transition would not be easy but I should have been astute enough to know what someone would try to kill me by using wildfire and not just poison," Helaena approached the edge of the gardens on the cliff, overlooking Blackwater Bay, "Jaime, please have a raven brought to me—I want to write a letter,"

Stunned at the use of his given name, as despite being able to the use the Queen's name, Helaena had never addressed him as anything else but Ser Jaime, Lannister, or Kingslayer.

Jaime faltered for a moment and feeling bold decided to ask his question anyway, "Who do you need to write a letter to? Everyone you know is here, in King's Landing. Robert Baratheon's out whoring himself and Ned Stark is trying to plant a son in his wife,"

"Such cheek from a knight in my own Queensguard. But I guess I can't fault you, you are after all just trying to do your job. Keep me safe. Though I don't know how writing a letter could jeopardize that. If I weren't absurdly reasonable, I'd have you strung up by your toes as well," luckily, Jaime knew, at least in this moment, that Helaena was jesting and didn't really have plans to hang him by his toes outside the wall…yet.

"Well if I am to get a raven you can at least tell me who the letter is to," Jaime reasoned, curious to see who the Queen could possibly be contacting.

"A man, a sellsword really, not that anyone will know," turning to face Jaime fully Helaena allowed a small, rueful smile to grace her face. "We'll dress him up as a Lord from a one of the smaller House, he'll be my new companion and he'll protect me,"

"I protect you, your Queensguard protects you," slightly insulted, Jaime couldn't fathom as to why Helaena would want to add another man to her protection detail and moreover, not have everyone know who he is"

"Well, I have other uses for him that none of you can do,"

"Oh, and just what might those uses be, Princess Underfoot?" Jaime waggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Helaena to smack his arm and huff indignantly.

"Jaime, he isn't here just to protect me,"

"What?"

The look Helaena gives him tickles the edges of Jaime's mind but the Kingslayer isn't thinking this through fully enough to understand. He is still reeling about the Queen's supposition that he and the rest of the Queensguard weren't enough to protect her.

"There's going to be more traitors and no doubt once Varys establishes his little birds more, I will find out about them. But we cannot just bring them to the front of the Court again for all the world to see just how unstable my rule actually is,"

Perplexed, Jaime still did not understand the line of thought that Helaena was entertaining.

"So you want to replace your Queensguard for a sellsword because of House Rosby? Because I can assure you, we would have protected you… and no one thinks you weak or unstable" Jaime assured, still trying to sense exactly what Helaena was trying to achieve.

"That's not it Jaime," Helaena snapped, causing the Kingslayer to shut his mouth afraid to set off Helaena's tempers again.

While they had been decreasing in frequency, they were very much still a possibility. Furthermore, the pair were in public and not in the privacy of her chambers. It would not be smart to lose herself now.

"Bronn is coming in order to ensure that the problem doesn't ever become a problem,"

Finally, a light of understanding enters Jaime's eyes. It would be imprudent to have her Queensguard slinking around and offing men who were trying to usurp their Queen. The order would have looked directly from her and if Helaena really wanted to get rid of the traitors before they even became traitors, she would be basically killing without just cause and only on supposition.

So Bronn (as that was apparently the sellswords name) was there, to investigate and extract if necessary. As a sellsword, he was by far sneakier than any of the members of the Queensguard had trained to be. He could make it look like an accident. As long as Helaena didn't go about killing everyone single person with a dissenting opinion, eventually the Lords who were thinking of rebelling would get the message.

It was clever, and Jaime told her so.

"I know," Helaena answered smugly, "I also know you are want to tell your Father everything but you are my Queensguard, Jaime. I am _trusting_ you to keep my secrets. You are my sworn sword, do not betray my confidence,"

There was a hint of warning in Helaena's tone that Jaime heard but chose to ignore slightly. Instead he focused on the fact that his Queen trusted him, when everyone else had been sneering and questioning his very presence on the Queensguard.

"Quickly now, I need to send that raven and after you must escort me to the make-shift Tyrell encampment that Olenna has set up in my gardens. Willas has asked me to join him for tea and I would much rather see him than Euron fucking Greyjoy standing before my chamber waiting for me,"

Jaime bowed his head and swiftly did as his Queen bid, not paying mind to the unsettling feeling that established in his stomach at the thought of Willas and Helaena having tea together.

…

They were getting closer to Winterfell, already having breached the borders of the North. Ned Stark could feel it in his bones, and in the way that the ground was frosting with each step he and his men took.

The appearance of a child had startled all the men, and Ned was relying on the fact that not many had known his whereabouts the whole entire time during the Rebellion as a way to pretend that Jon was his. The timing wasn't exactly correct, but hopefully they could overlook that.

What Ned was very worried about was how his lady wife would react to this. The Lord of the North contemplated, for a moment, just telling his wife the truth. However, if he did that, who knew who else would find out and if Robert were even to get wind of this development—well, the man would be the first one riding out to go behead Jon himself.

Jon represented everything that went wrong within the past year. Ned, although he dearly loved Lyanna, cursed her for putting her desire over her duty. Honor and duty—that was the Stark way, the Northern way. And she had absconded all that in order to pursue a Prince that was already married. Not that Robert would ever find out that little fact either—making Rhaegar seem like a kidnapper fit the narrative that everyone wanted perpetuated and for once, Ned wasn't going to dissuade anyone from the myth.

Jon's safety hung at the balance.

It was astonishing, how much Jon looked like a Stark. Enough that Ned thanked the old gods every day, because if he were even to look an inkling like a Targaryen, the game would be up. Luckily, there were no purple eyes, no silver hair to be in sight.

Jon Snow, he was destined to be a bastard. But at the very least, Ned consoled himself, he would live.

…

Willas Tyrell was pretty to look at, Helaena concluded. The man had high, defined cheekbones; a structured jaw; beautifully tousled brown curls that looked kissed by the sun; and rather stunning brown eyes that bore into Helaena as his rapt attention was upon her. The heir of Highgarden was fit, dressed in his best Southern clothes, and known to be wonderfully well-read and humorous. All in all, out of all the men who had approached her, he was the most pleasant and would reward her with an alliance with the very plentiful Reach.

The Lannisters were already guaranteed. Helaena had yet to decide whether to marry off Viserys or Danaerys but either way the Lannister alliance was secure. Soon enough she would have the two richest houses in the Seven Kingdoms in the palm of her hand if she decided to pursue a further relationship with Willas Tyrell.

Helaena wanted to laugh. Willas Tyrell either was a very good actor or he was actually interested as he was doing a splendid job seeming genuine in his attentions. Extremely attentive, polite, courteous, humorous and just a bit flirtatious. It was boring her, all the niceties. Willas Tyrell was entirely too polite.

Watching them together was enough to make Jaime vomit. Standing at the edge of the encampment, he watched as Willas and Helaena sat under the canopy and the Lord poured wine for his Queen, waving away the cupbearer who would have done it. The action was enough to send all the Highgarden maidens who had come along with Olenna Tyrell, flitting about into giggles, not that they weren't already giggling and trying to strike up the nerve to approach Jaime who was standing stoically and watching the scene before him unfold.

Jaime felt better that at least for her part Helaena looked entirely unamused. Men had been fawning over her constantly since she had become Queen, even more so when it was announced that Falyse Stokeworth was to take Dragonstone until the Queen had an heir and a spare and maybe a few more. The idea of becoming Consort was tempting to many men, and Willas Tyrell seemed like the most successful so far as no one else had been able to wrangle Helaena into tea.

"Would you like another pastry, my Queen?" Willas asked politely, once again after Helaena had already quickly finished her last one in order to chew and avoid talking.

"No, I am fine Lord Willas. Please have them for yourself though," Helaena waved disinterestedly at the platter before her, welcoming the Lord to whatever he pleased.

"Perhaps when all has settled down more, you may grace the Reach with a visit. Highgarden is beautiful this time of year," Willas offered congenially, no doubt trying to find a way to isolate his time with Helaena—when there wasn't a gaggle of other men trying to vie for her hand as well.

"Perhaps," Helaena answered noncommittally.

Honestly the conversation was boring Helaena but she knew quite a bit about Lord Willas Tyrell and knew for a fact he wasn't always this simpering, flirtatious fool. There was an actual person of substance buried beneath all the scheming, or at least buried beneath his grandmother's scheming.

"Tell my Lord Willas, you are known to breed fine horses—has any foal showed any potential?"

Willas, who also had seemed to be growing bored with the conversation perked up at the mention of breeding and horses, "Actually, one of our mares just delivered a month ago. A fine male—beautiful markings, stood so fast at his birth you would think he had been running all his life,"

"And have you named him yet?"

"Not yet, not until we are sure he can be broken in,"

"I see, well when you do perhaps I can try my hand at riding him,"

Willas nodded excitedly, "Of course my Queen, riding used to be a favorite past time of mine,"

"Before you became crippled?" Helaena was unapologetic in her bluntness and the comment was heard by Jaime who Helaena could see out of the corner of her eye, shoulders shaking with hidden laughter. At least someone appreciated her humor.

"Yes, before my accident. I hope that my leg does not disturb my Queen," the Queen admired the game reply by Willas, who was obviously uncomfortable with the topic of his leg. If he was willing to endure than perhaps she could ease up on him.

"I have watched my Father burn the bodies of great men, their flash charring and peeling off their bones," Helaena replied stonily, "Very little can disgust me now. And if it can, it certainly isn't something as minor as a scarred leg,"

Willas, while a little disconcerted, seemed gratified and a small, genuine smile spread across his lips.

"It doesn't really matter; it will be many years until I can possibly ride the new foal. Until then, I'll just have to stay with the horses that lodge within the Royal Stable," the change in subject nearly gave Willas whiplash. The Queen was being mercurial as always.

Standing, Helaena waited for Willas to stand as well before taking his outstretched arm and placing a delicate hand on his bicep.

"Come, my legs are falling asleep. Let us walk through to the stables so that we may see the horses. I'm sure there a fine few that we can match with yours—it's always good to introduce new blood into a line," Helaena commented lightly as Willas and her walked side by side, albeit a bit slowly because of the Lord's bad leg.

Helaena, however, didn't mind. The leg didn't really detract from Willas's physical attractiveness, his wit (which Helaena knew he had, he was just hiding under layers of courtly decorum) and intelligence, nor his overall personality. If anything it made him more congenial. The Queen thought all this strange and hilarious, but if she wanted to know what Olenna Tyrell was plotting than she needed to be well connected with the Tyrell's.

"Will you be holding a feast or a tourney any time soon my Queen?" Willas asked politely, no doubt wondering why one hadn't taken place.

There was much to celebrate for and even more to mourn for. A tourney would be a great tool to brighten everyone's spirits. However, despite having loved them when she was younger, Helaena now held a particular disdain for tourneys all thanks to her dear brother.

The topic caught the interest of Jaime, who was trailing behind the pair. After being denied the honor of a feast in his name, Jaime wanted to know if Helaena still had plans to hold one. She had yet ot mention anything about a feast or tourney to anyone, and after her initial conversation with him Helaena had not mentioned a feast again.

Helaena shrugged, "Unlikely. I don't think it would be an appropriate time, considering the disaster that was the last Tourney but I can be persuaded otherwise. After all, I am not entirely set against it,"

"It would be tremendous fun. And you could meet my sister Margery if she were to come visit King's Landing. I believe she is five and ten as well and I think the two of you would be great friends," Willas insisted eagerly to Helaena as the pair were approaching the stables.

"I will think on it," Helaena stopped, making Willas stop as well and turn back to look at her, "The stables are just up ahead. Continue on, there are some matters I must attend to,"

Approaching the Queen quickly, Willas took her hand and raised it to his lips, placing a lingering kiss on the back of Helaena's hand. "I want to express my sincere gratitude to you Queen Helaena, for taking time out of your day to spend it with me,"

Helaena gave a little gasp (mostly in shock at his familiarness) at Willas's action, that did not go unheard by the Lord who merely smiled brightly in response.

"Yes, well, you're welcome," was the only response the Queen managed to give before she uncomfortably removed her hand from Willas's grasp and turned away in order to head back to the Keep.

"Well he seemed like a pleasant fellow," Jaime muttered darkly under his breath but it was loud enough for Helaena to hear and she barked out a harsh laugh.

"Roses are pathetic," was the only answer Helaena supplied, causing Jaime to smile a bit as he remembered their earlier conversation and was amused to see that Helaena held the same opinions for roses no matter if they were flowers or people.

"Not all roses can be blue winter roses my Queen," the epithet made Helaena sneer and wrinkle her nose in distaste.

"You are a singularly unpleasant fellow Jaime,"

"Am I?"

"Do you expect any other answer except yes?"

…

"The Iron Bank seems to want to call in the debts we owe them," Tyrion threw down the letter, taking another drink from the goblet of wine as he settled in a seat across from his father.

"Now?" looking up from his papers, Tywin shot the letter an annoyed glance, "We don't have the gold dragons—especially with the new tax that the Queen has levied upon us all,"

"Well the Iron Bank has called us in and a Lannister must always pay his debts," reciting the old montage he had learned since he was young, Tyrion wondered how his father would try to get his way out of this.

During the Rebellion, in order to bring in more men, particularly mercenaries from Tyrosh, Tywin Lannister had decided to borrow money from the Iron Bank. Some of the mines in the Westerlands were starting to dry out and while many of the bannermen were scouting out new potential mines, they had yet to find any and thus the Lannisters were just a little short on gold nowadays than they usually were. Tywin, outwardly, didn't seem all that worried. However, if they didn't find the money soon, the wealth that the Lannisters were known for would soon be nothing but a myth. And Tywin Lannister would sooner kill himself than let an atrocity like that occur.

"Then we'll have to call on the debts that the other Houses owe us," Tywin declared, the list already forming in his head, "There is nearly a dozen different Houses who still owe us money and have yet to pay us back,"

"And the combination of all those Houses is enough to pay off what we owe to the Iron Bank?" Tyrion inquired, unsure of the plan that his father was concocting.

"Maybe. If it weren't for your grandfather we wouldn't be in this position," Tywin cursed. "You remind me of him sometimes—did you know?"

"Dear old Grandfather Tytos? And whys that father?" an amused look passed through Tyrion's face, he was curious as to the reason his father would come up with.

"Because despite inheriting one of the greatest legacies in the Seven Kingdoms, the man didn't know how to run it because he spent all his time drinking and whoring—wasting away all the gold in the family vaults until I had to finally end it," Tywin glared into the space behind Tyrion, resentfully remembering all that his father had put him through.

Tyrion grimaced at the comparison, "Well, I'd like to think I am a bit cleverer than dear old Tytos,"

"You think you've been cleverer than Tytos?" Tywin scorned, ridicule coloring his voice as he gaze at his imp of a son.

Nodding, Tyrion saluted his father with the goblet of wine, "Yes Father, I do,"

"And how's that?"

"Well, you've yet to successfully kill me,"

…

Cersei was getting on his nerves. Jaime had been mainly shifted to guard the Queen during the afternoons, which were the only times Cersei had a break from her lessons. Thus, his twin sister was upset that she didn't get to spend any time with him. Jaime was upset too, and had suggested to Cersei that she ask the Queen for tea or to walk about the gardens. The suggestion had been met with a blank stare by Cersei, as if trying to imply what Jaime suggested as utterly ridiculous.

Jaime couldn't see why. The Queen wouldn't have rejected it outright like all the men who had tried their hand at getting time alone with Helaena. At the very least Helaena would have considered it for more than a second before rejecting the idea. Not that Jaime told this to Cersei, who would have been severely offended.

"I don't understand why you don't just ask to be assigned another shift," Cersei snapped from across the dinner table. The whole family was to sit together for supper but neither Tyrion nor Tywin had arrived yet which allowed Cersei and Jaime time to speak alone.

Shaking his head, Jaime met Cersei's eyes from across the table, "It doesn't work that way Cersei. I am the youngest out of the Queensguard, those with more seniority are allowed first preferences in which shifts are assigned to them,"

"Well then why don't you ask the Queen, you seem awfully close to her," Cersei sneered, turning her face rather ugly in Jaime's opinion.

"I'm not going to ask the Queen to switch my shifts for me," Jaime exhaled in irritation, "You are greatly overestimating the extent of our relationship. I am her Knight, a member of her Queensguard. Nothing more," it was almost bitter, the tone that accompanied the words out of Jaime's mouth but luckily Cersei didn't catch it.

If she did, it was more than likely she would have been jumping down Jaime's throat, and for that the eldest Lannister son sighed in relief.

"Well then at the very least she favors you above the other members so why wouldn't she do this for you?" Cersei pouted, causing Jaime to roll his eyes in annoyance.

How could a woman as clever as Cersei not see the dynamics surrounding Helaena and her Queensguard?

"You haven't been in King's Landing long enough Cersei. Helaena doesn't favor me above any other. If anything, Lord Commander Barristan is her closest confidant,"

"That is very true," the twins turn quickly to see their father walking in through the door, stopping at the head of the table and looking down at both his children.

"The Queen will sometimes only take counsel from Lord Commander Barristan Selmy," a look of displeasure crossed Tywin Lannister's face, "Even as her Hand, in comparison to Selmy, I have very little weight,"

"What's that about wine?" Tyrion hobbled in, already slightly drunk as he always was when he had to have dinner with his whole family.

"No one was talking about wine," Cersei sneered, "Perhaps if you weren't always deep in your cups you would be able to form some type of coherent thought and follow along with conversations,"

"I'm sorry, why are you here again Cersei?" Tyrion asked rhetorically, "Oh yes! Because you are twenty, flowered, and still unmarried. Perhaps before you cast judgments on others you'll wonder why no Lord within his right mind wants to marry you,"

Cersei stood abruptly in anger, her chair clattering behind her, "I'll have you killed one day you little Imp! I'll have you—"

"Stop you bunch of wild heathens!" Tywin Lannister shouted above the screaming match, silencing his two youngest children completely.

Only Jaime sat, silent and unaffected in his seat, with his arms crossed against his chest and a very firm bored look settled on his face. He could be having dinner with the rest of the Queensguard and the Queen right now, as she had taken to inviting them all to dine with her. Either out of sentiment or to avoid any suitors that gave an invitation for supper. Or both. But instead, here he was with his family who hated each other, arguing over matters that honestly seemed trivial to Jaime.

"Silence, the both of you. This isn't the time to squabble over your petty issues," Tywin ordered sternly which silenced both his children, "Cersei, have you tried to befriend the Queen at all?"

Cersei sniffed delicately, "No, all the servants have told me she doesn't answer any missives or invitations to tea and prefers to spend time alone or with her Queensguard,"

"Have you tried at all?"

A brief moment of hesitation from Cersei occurs before the Lannister daughter finally reluctantly admitted, "No…"

Sighing and shaking his head, Tywin sat down at the table in exhaustion, "If you isolate yourself from the Queen, who at the moment has all the most eligible Lords knocking on her door, you might never find yourself married. She can arrange an advantageous marriage, one that you might not have achieved otherwise with the way you had spurned most of your suitors previously,"

"That's because Rhaegar…" Cersei began her protest but was quickly silenced by Tywin, who slammed the goblet he was drinking from against the table, causing Cersei to flinch.

"Rhaegar would have never been yours. He barely acknowledged your existence, if knew you were a person at all. To him, you were just another Lady at court. What you should have done was make friends with the Princess but now she's the Queen and won't be so open to making friendships any longer," Tywin bemoaned, wondering why his two eldest children were so stupid.

For her part, Cersei did not flinch further at the observations Tywin had declared were the true relationship, or lack of relationship, between Cersei and the former Heir. Cersei had always thought she would've been Queen, Rhaegar had treated her nicely. But Rhaegar treated all the Ladies nicely, the only person he really ever had an eye on was Lyanna Fucking Stark.

"You think you are far cleverer than you actually are Cersei," cutting into the food before him, Tywin turned his direction toward his two sons.

"I very much doubt the Queen will marry you Tyrion. And Jaime, you are a member of her Queensguard now. Firmly entrapped in a vow of celibacy and without any titles actually tied to you anymore. You've all failed, no Lannister will sit on the throne until we're long dead—if even that. Even if Cersei should marry Viserys or Tyrion marry Danaerys—neither of them will ever get the throne. None of their children will either,"

Tyrion, undaunted about his Father's supposition that the Queen wouldn't marry him, persisted at least for his brother's cause, "The Queen released the Lord Commander from his vows so that he may pursue Ashara Dayne. Who's to say that she can't release Jaime, if he works on getting closer to her?"

"Except I am not the heir to any prestigious Great House, not anymore. The Queen has to make a beneficial marriage, that will strengthen her house and her position. A marriage with a Knight will do none of that," Jaime countered, actually interested in the conversation now though no one could tell by the impassive look of his face. Only the slight inflection of his voice betrayed any emotion.

"Jaime wouldn't want to marry her anyway," Cersei continued, sending a knowing glance toward her twin who didn't return it, making Lady Lannister raise an eyebrow, "Would you, Jaime?"

Jaime struggled to look for an answer. The Queen wouldn't be a horrible person to marry if he had to. As much as he was in love with Cersei, Jaime couldn't deny the attraction to the Queen that he had. Their banter was humorous and familiar, comfortable even. He knew her moods, knew when Queen Helaena was about to lose her temper. And when he stepped over an unknown, invisible line, Jaime didn't mind either as it afforded a bit of mystery to their relationship.

Yes, Queen Helaena was close to her Queensguard; however, she also spent time now with her Small Council and sometimes one lucky Lord that would manage to wrangle a tea out of her. She was actively seeking to find the Consort that would profit her House and the Throne the most.

"It doesn't matter what he would or wouldn't want to do. What matters is that he and Tyrion are not even in consideration. How I wish you were a boy, Cersei, as a girl you are decidedly useless," saved from having to answer, Jaime breathed a sigh in relief when Tywin cut in but felt badly for his sister who had shrank back in her chair.

A knock at the door silenced all the conversation, and at Tywin's beckoning, the door opened and revealed one of Queen Helaena's ladies in waiting.

Curtsying crisply, the lady in waiting quickly stood again, "My Lord, the Queen requests the presence of all her Queensguard in her dining room,"

Jaime perked up at the news, sitting up straighter, while his siblings turned as they were decidedly interested in this conversation now. Tywin raised an eyebrow at the news as well.

"Is there something the Queen wants?"

The lady in waiting shook her head at Tywin, "Her Majesty did not say, she simply commanded we find all the members of her Queensguard and have them report to her dining room,"

"Well, then I best go," standing slowly, not wanting to seem to eager, Jaime got up from the table and made his way to the door.

"Try not to offend anyone Jaime, we want your pretty head to stay on your shoulders," Tyrion's quip gets a short laugh out of Jaime who, once the door closes and bars his family from seeing him anymore, begins to quickly walk down the hall.

…

Nearly a week later and Bronn had yet to arrive. No feast had been announced but the reconstruction of Summer Hall, the Dragon pit, and the destroyed parts of King's Landing were underway. Falyse Stokeworth had already packed her bags and boarded a ship to go to Dragonstone. She had thanked her Queen profusely, anything to get away from the disappointing looks of her family and her Lord Husband.

It seemed that things were beginning to run smoothly again and for that Helaena was thankful for. Varys had not caught wind of anymore plots and thus Helaena almost sent a letter to Bronn telling him not to come. But something in the pit of her stomach stopped the Queen and she waited for the sellsword to arrive each day. It was frankly, very annoying.

Moreover, the second egg to hatch, from the headless body of Lord Gyles Rosby, was the blue egg. It turned out that inside laid a female and Helaena had stared at her new baby for a very long time before deciding its name.

Sunfyre's namesake had participated in the Dance of Dragons. It was only appropriate that his siblings should be as well. However, Helaena was going to unite the House Targaryen divided and thus named the blue dragon, that had black as its secondary color and thus had black and blue eyes, Meleys after the great dragon mother. Meleys had been ridden by "The Queen Who Never Was" Rhaenys and it was a tribute to her slaughtered niece that Helaena found fitting.

With the addition of Meleys, Helaena now had two live dragons. Meleys, the size of a rather large cat, and Sunfyre, who was a bit bigger than his little sister. When Helaena had introduced Meleys to Sunfyre, her dragon son did not seem all too pleased at having to share the wicker basket and his meals. However, the two eventually warmed to each other and were curled around each other in the wicker basket during the night.

Helaena, in her nightgown, was on the floor sitting in front of the wicker basket. Her dragons would soon become bigger and need more space to fly and hunt. The Dragon pit was nowhere near completion, which meant that Helaena had to find an open, unpopulated field, and soon. Sunfyre was already eating twice the amount of meat that he was eating when he first hatched, and Helaena knew that Meleys would soon follow after.

A knock on her door caught Helaena's attention and she quickly pushed the wicker basket back into the wardrobe and stood to answer the door. Internally, Helaena grumbled on about how everyone was always interrupting her time with her dragons whilst she was in her chambers and maybe she should pass a law that prohibited people from knocking on her door unless it was during dire circumstances.

On the other side, Helaena was pleasantly surprised to see Bronn, looking rather dashing in all black, standing on the other side. Looking around the corner, Helaena noticed that Ser Gwayne Gaunt was sleeping. Helaena huffed in frustration but said nothing, only beckoning for Bronn to come in.

"Took you long enough," the Queen reprimanded, offering Bronn a goblet of wine that she had left out and never drunk.

"Hello to you too Princess," Bronn stopped and considered for a moment, "Or is it Queen now? Sorry sweetheart, you've got so many titles, a sellsword can only try to keep track," the man gave a small bow to Helaena.

Snorting at the informality of Bronn, Helaena made her way to come face to face with the man, "I'll let that go because I'm the one who summoned you here from whatever little shit hole you were frequenting but I'm warning you not to try again Bronn. My patience has been wearing thin, all these high-born Lords thinking they can outplay me, the constant underestimation of my abilities has left me particularly agitated,"

The sellsword could tell that Helaena was serious. And she did look slightly worn down in comparison to the last time he had saw her. Not nearly as wild, though if one looked hard enough and poked at just the right places, Bronn was sure the spit-fire Princess was still there hiding under the Queenly façade.

"Varys seems to think that there are no more conspirators, plotting to oust me from the throne now that I have had Lord Gyles Rosby punished. But I think my Master of Whispers is wrong, there was too much unrest for everything to just suddenly die down. One man's death is not going to stop a group of Lords who think they have the upper hand because they believe me unsuspecting," straight to business, Bronn couldn't help but admire Helaena's no nonsense attitude.

"I know what must be done, Queenie," Bronn smirked, thinking himself rather clever for coming up with that term of endearment, "What I want to know is just how much you're going to pay me,"

Helaena shrugged and smirked, "How'd you like to be Knighted, Ser Bronn?"

"I'm intrigued, please, continue," the sellsword prompted, wanting to see what else Helaena as Queen could possibly offer.

The world was at her fingertips now, she could give him the skies if he did a good enough job getting rid of any and all potential rebels.

"You'll be Knighted, given a large sum of gold, and when the timing is right I will arrange for you to be betrothed to Lollys Stokeworth—she is the younger sister of Falyse Stokeworth, who is the heir of Castle Stokeworth,"

"Now why would I want to marry some second daughter?" Bronn questioned, not understanding Helaena's line of thought.

Helaena smirked, staring rather searchingly at Bronn and seeing how long he could wait before she revealed the next bit of information. Obviously it wasn't very long because Bronn shot her a look of exasperation that made Helaena want roll her eyes, and so she did.

"House Stokeworth has no male heir, thus the title will go to Falyse when her mother dies. Except, Falyse is 30 years old and barren which means any sons you put in Lollys would be the next Lord Stokeworth," running a delicate finger down Bronn's chest, Helaena smiled beautifully up at the man, "And should Falyse come about an accident, Lollys would be the next Lady Stokeworth and you, Lord Stokeworth. Does that sound like good enough payment?"

Bronn grasped Helaena's hand, causing the Queen to merely raise her eyebrow at the action. Placing delicate kisses on her fingertips, Bronn placed one final kiss on the back of Helaena's hand before answering.

"More than satisfactory, my Queen," Bronn bowed deferentially, this time not in jest. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are when you are plotting?"

"No, but please, continue," the Queen wrapped the fingers that Bronn was holding around her own.

"Absolutely stunning. And all for me," twirling her into his arms, Bronn placed a gentle kiss on Helaena's forehead.

"Well for now," Helaena sighed airily, "You'll be Lord Stokeworth soon enough and I'll have my own little Consort to play with,"

Bronn frowned at the news, while travelling along the Kingsroad he had most definitely not heard of Helaena actively looking for a husband.

"You shouldn't frown, you're not nearly as pretty when you do," Helaena tapped a finger against Bronn's lips—causing him to catch it in his mouth.

"That's disgusting," pulling her fingers away, Helaena stepped back, "Well, as entertaining as it was to see you, night has fallen and I need to sleep,"

"Little dragon you've become so formal since the last time I saw you," Bronn placed a kiss on Helaena's cheek, "Whatever happened to the little spitfire who almost impaled me with her sword?"

"I only did that because you snuck up on me," Helaena retorted hotly, "I'm Queen now Bronn, everyone is watching my every move. I cannot misstep in anyway,"

"Helaena we are in the privacy of your own chambers, I very much doubt anyone is watching from the shadows," placing a chaste kiss on Helaena's lips, Bronn waited for the Queen to respond to his attentions.

Although reluctant, Helaena relents. Melting into the sellswords' arms and kissing him back with a fervor and fire in her veins.

It wasn't that she held a particular affection for Bronn. Helaena was just very attracted to him, from the moment that he had stumbled onto her practicing her archery in the woods outside the Kingsroad, Helaena hadn't been able to look away. She didn't particularly trust him, but Helaena knew that as long as she had enough gold to outdo any bidder, Bronn would do as she said. It was just an added benefit that he was an amazing kisser as well.

But as Bronn's hand slipped beneath her nightgown, Helaena stopped him and took several large steps back. Her virtue was for her Consort, after all. And the Queen couldn't have anyone questioning her or her virtue as they would use it as a way to delegitimize her rule. Helaena could hear it now, the Whore Queen who let the man that killed her father live, usurped her brother, and exiled the rest of her family. No, Helaena already had enough on her list of misdeeds, losing her virtue to someone who was not her Chosen Consort was not going to be one of them.

Bronn groaned at the loss but did not protest, knowing that he was already pushing boundaries.

"Goodnight Bronn. Present yourself at Court tomorrow, have you chosen a family name to use?"

"Umber," Bronn supplied, "No one of the North is here, no one in the South has ever even seen an Umber because they never venture further South than White Harbor,"

Helaena nodded in approval, "Good. Leave now, thank you,"

Bowing, Bronn slipped out the door quietly in an effort not to wake the sleeping Queensguard outside.

Going back to the wardrobe, Helaena pulled the wicker basket out and allowed her dragons to wrap themselves around her body before settling back in the bed, with Sunfyre and Meleys wrapped around her.

…

Ned Stark cradled the crying infant against his chest, trying to silence the boy and send him back to sleep. When he had returned to Winterfell he was surprised to find Catelyn already heavy with child and a week later, giving birth to his first-born son Robb.

No letter had come from his lady wife informing Ned of this development. Catelyn had said, when Ned first arrived, that it was supposed to be a surprise. However, with the arrival of Jon, Ned's lady wife had deemed to ignore his and Jon's presence entirely.

Obviously the warm feelings that Catelyn was beginning to feel for her lord husband had started to wither the moment she set her eyes upon Jon Snow.

Thus, Ned was left to his own devices to care for the child. He could have left it to the handmaidens, except this was Lyanna's son, the only thing left he had of his sister. It didn't matter that the time he spent with Jon only managed to antagonize Catelyn more, there was no love between the two and now with the arrival of Jon there likely wouldn't be for a long while.

"Quiet Jon, what has you fussing so noisily?" Ned whispered to the babe in his arms softly, rocking him back and forth in the room he had set up for Jon after bringing him back home.

"Your mother would undoubtedly know what to do," shaking his head, Ned brought Jon over to the window, looking out into his snow-covered home.

"She would have loved you, dearly. And hopefully, Catelyn will find it in her heart to love you too," a wistful look crossed Ned's face. He missed the earlier days when things were easier, when Brandon and Rickon were still very much alive.

The cool air seemed to stop the fussing baby, who's eyes had only recently opened and turned to gaze up at Ned's face. "You have an Aunt you know, she's ruling the Seven Kingdoms now but if she knew about you—I'm sure she would love you," Ned confessed to Jon, so confident in how Helaena would react.

"But Robert would have you beheaded so we have to keep you here and I'll raise you. You're more Stark than Targaryen. The North is in your blood,"

Much to Ned's chagrin at first and Catelyn's distaste, Jon looked more Stark than even Robb. Robb who was born with Tully features, mostly the red tuffs of hair that covered his little head. Meanwhile one could barely tell Jon was even a Targaryen. Every know and then he would make an expression that would resemble Rhaegar, but one wouldn't know unless looking closely.

"Helaena probably misses Rhaegar dearly, you would be the last piece of him she has" Ned contemplated letting the new Queen know.

Having been fostered with her in the Vale, Ned Stark had spent a considerable amount of time with Helaena and he had fallen in love with her fiery spirit and brutal honesty. Despite coming from King's Landing and having fire in her blood, the new Lord could easily have seen Helaena thriving in the North.

He had never told her, never got a chance. Just when he was going to ride South in order to ask the King to court Helaena, Aerys had Brandon and Rickon killed and suddenly Ned was the one betrothed to Catelyn. Ned Stark went from having his future open and full of promises with Helaena potentially waiting at the end, to being trapped with only one road to take. So of course Ned helped Helaena usurp her father, pledge his loyalty as it was the only kind of oath he would be giving to her now.

Jon cooed and Ned glanced down at his true nephew fondly, "Perhaps we should both go to King's Landing, once things are more settled here," maybe it was wishful thinking but Ned could have sworn he saw Jon nod in agreement.

"Helaena won't tell Robert, she'll just be glad to know you exist,"

Snow gently fell in the night, and Ned Stark, with Jon Snow in his arm, gazed out at the lands he was Lord over now. There would have to be a lot of preparation, for the Lord of the North who had just returned, to leave so soon. Perhaps he would wait a few more moons, Ned contemplated, until Jon was a little older and fit enough for such a long journey again.

Maybe he could even bring Robb, Ned though amusedly. But then that would also mean bringing Catelyn as Ned knew without a doubt that his lady wife wouldn't be leaving Robb on his own for long periods of time anytime soon. And the last thing Ned Stark wanted was the woman he loved and the woman he was married to within the same room. Just thinking about the possibility made his headache.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Good Day Everyone! Thank you all for being so patient with me as I got through midterm season. I'm still really busy right now because I just took on a job as a Research Assistant so updates will be coming slowly, but they will be coming! I worked really, really hard on this chapter and had to edit it at least a few/tens of times before I deemed it semi-appropriate to post. Mostly because there are some moving parts that affect later events in the story that I didn't know whether I wanted in this chapter or not. Anyway, please read and review and let me know what you think!**

 **xoxo**

 **M**

Euron Greyjoy was decidedly unhappy.

And it was all Queen Helaena's fault.

Despite visiting her often, the Queen had ended up barring her room to all visitors—not to be disturbed unless deemed of upmost importance or an emergency. If someone wanted to get a hold of her now, they had to present themselves formally in court.

Which wouldn't really be a problem for Euron, if it weren't for the fact that there were a lines of high-born Lords vying for her time. And given that the Queen already had a very busy schedule, his next meeting date with her was in 5 weeks. Not even walking throughout the Keep could Euron spot a second of his Queen.

Thus, Euron had taken to his initial idea. Poison.

However, even this proved to be difficult as the Queen had 3 different tasters try just one meal. The lack of success had started to make Balon Greyjoy nervous, Master of Ships and not the favorite of the Queen amongst the Small Council, the Lord was worried that he would be one of the first accused should anyone deem it necessary to investigate the Queen's death.

"Euron, perhaps we should just abandon this plan," Balon whispered nervously to Euron in the corridor they had chosen to hide in and have their conversation.

"She has made me Master of Ships, it is a great honor, and at the very least I can now have her ear,"

"Have her ear?" Euron scoffed, "Brother you don't kiss her feet nearly enough to have her ear. Not even her Hand has her ear!"

"If you try to poison her, she will have everyone investigated. And when they discover that you had a servant paid off in order to bring you're a vial of Tears of Lys from Pycelle's stores we'll all be doomed," Balon whispered harshly, indignant that his younger brother was not taking this issue seriously.

"She'll have us thrown into the Black Cells, or killed, leaving Theon to rule. Theon, who is only days old Euron—think of the Iron Islands. Do not be foolish,"

Euron grabbed his brother by the shoulder and pulled him closer, "Foolish is the last word to describe me, _brother,"_ the younger Greyjoy hissed.

Balon yanked his shoulder out of Euron's grip, and stepped up to come only a hair's breadth away from Euron's face, "Independence would mean nothing if we are both dead and unable to see it. The Queen has been generous,"

Rolling his eyes, Euron pushed his brother away, "To _you,_ maybe. Master of Ships, tell me Master of Ships, what use does the Queen have for you when the only pressing matter right now she has to address is who will provide her with an heir?"

"Is that really what has you so unsettled Euron? The fact that the Queen hasn't fallen for your charms? You've barely interacted with her- you cannot expect Helaena to simply fall at your feet," Balon taunted mockingly, knowing that his jabs were a blow to Euron's rather large yet fragile ego.

"All these little high-born Lords running around thinking that they're better. I can easily slit their throats if it comes down to it," Euron jeered, dismissing Balon's gibes.

"Then show them that, instead of blathering on and complaining. People would take you seriously if you actually acted instead of just talked all day long," Balon criticized his little brother, knowing what he said to be absolutely true.

While Euron undoubtedly could follow through on anything of the things he had promised, all the arrogance in the world meant nothing if he didn't show people what he was capable of.

"And what do you propose we do, brother?"

"We throw a tourney, at the Iron Islands if we have to, in the Queen's honor. I will discuss with Tywin the possibility of choosing her Consort that way. The Queen cannot put this issue off much longer, not if she wants to secure her rule,"

"Now I have to win a tourney against those snotty little shits?" distaste marred Euron's face, never having been one for tourneys the younger Greyjoy brother had kept his pursuits strictly to fighting and fucking.

Balon Greyjoy sighed loudly, almost loud enough for anyone walking by to hear, which earned him a harsh look from his younger brother.

"Did you expect to win the Queen without putting in at least a little effort? She's the Queen, her marriage is going to mean everything—it's not a decision to take lightly and if you can't even put a little effort to try and convince her to let you court her what's the point of all this? Do you want to be the Prince Consort, or not?"

"I want the Iron Islands," Euron muttered under his breath but it was loud enough for Balon to hear.

"One thing at a time brother, another rebellion would do nothing but incite the anger of the Queen, all the Lords, and the people—who are looking for peace,"

"Does that mean the poison deal is off?" the utter eagerness in Euron's voice at the prospect of the Iron Islands potentially still becoming independent with the Queen's death made Balon sigh.

"Yes, the poisoning is off. It's not a feasible plan Euron. Perhaps if you win the Tourney, the Queen will see you as worthy and you can convince her to give us independence. And if she doesn't, well there are a few sellswords I can come into contact with," a devious glint entered Balon's eye that made Euron smile conspiratorially at his brother.

"I like your thinking, brother,"

…

"Oh my," Grand Maester Pycelle watched as three more bodies were carried in, all of them with stone flesh.

"The problem seems to be getting worse, Grand Maester," one of the guards informed Pycelle, as he dropped the third body on the stone tablet for the Grand Maester to examine. "We found this one right outside one of the gates, it was trying to get in to King's Landing,"

"Perhaps we should inform the Queen now. Or at the very least, the Hand Tywin Lannister," Pycelle's apprentice implored, this was the third case of stone flesh that had appeared after the initial one. At this point it could be seen as an epidemic.

"No, the Queen will be severely displeased if she found out this was happening. Especially if she knew where it had come from—the Seven Kingdoms does not need that kind of unrest right now. We need to let Tywin Lannister know and have him clean up his own mess. Varys will most likely catch wind of this soon if we aren't fast and we can't have him informing the Queen," Pycelle noted worriedly.

They had, just a few days ago, found "patient zero." The cause for why all these stone men were suddenly appearing. And it was a mercenary from Tyrosh. Tywin Lannister had contracted a few hundred of them for his army and it seemed that during their journey here, one of them had contracted the stone flesh and not seen fit to let himself fall upon a sword or inform his superiors. Thus, the Tyroshi had sailed across the ocean only to come to King's Landing an infect what was now half a dozen people all under the purveyance of Tywin Lannister, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Hand of the Queen.

This would surely rock the boat far more than it was already being rocked. The Queen would be furious and no doubt try to cut ties or seek revenge by making House Lannister by penance. And that would eventually lead to Tywin Lannister seeking revenge. Pycelle could see it in his mind's eye, yet another war for the Seven Kingdoms to fall into, and all because one mercenary contracted stone flesh and decided to inflict it on a bunch of commoners.

"This problem needs to be contained. Bring Tywin Lannister here so that he can see the trouble he has wrought," Pycelle ordered one of the guards, "And tell no one of what you saw here. No one," passing a few gold dragons over, Pycelle hoped that would be enough to keep the guards silent, at least for now.

…

Three moons after he had arrived, the activity in King's Landing had been relatively tame. But now, Bronn walked briskly, coming to the entrance of the Queen's solar and knocking hastily against the wall. There was news that she needed to hear.

Helaena turned and at the sight of Bronn, motioned for the sellsword to come in. His introduction to court had come without fanfare. He was seen just as another suitor in a long line of suitors that were vying to become Prince Consort. The plan, so far, was working well and Helaena, just for a moment, felt a little more secure.

"What is it Bronn?"

The man in question huffed a little, out of breath from running his way over, "It's the orphanage, Helaena, someone set fire to it,"

Eyes widening in apparent shock, Helaena quickly motioned for Bronn to continue.

"Rebels, no doubt, the words usurper was written in blood of the walls as the orphanage burned,"

"Which one?" Helaena stood taller and eyes glinting with fury, "Which one?" the Queen demanded and Bronn knew it wasn't the fiery, passionate Princess he was talking to anymore but the vengeful Queen.

"Flea Bottom your Majesty," bowing his head slightly, Bronn looked up to see Helaena's face in a stoic mask.

Flea Bottom, the poorest district in all of King's Landing, also housed the biggest orphanage in the city. If it was in flames, that meant hundreds of children were now dead too. Helaena lamented at the arsonist's choice, and anger fueled her emotions. But, it was not a time to let her emotions control her, not when she needed to be levelheaded.

"The fire, is it still burning?"

Bronn shook his head and that was all Helaena needed. Steeling herself, Helaena clenched and unclenched her fist for a moment before storming her way past Bronn and out of her solar.

"My Queen, where are you going?" Bronn called, quickly following after Helaena.

"To Flea Bottom—an announcement needs to be made. Inform my Small Council, we're all going," Helaena called, quickly making her way through the halls of the Keep.

"Have my horse prepared," Helaena barked at a passing servant boy, who, although startled, quickly scrambled toward the stables.

There was a flurry of activity as Bronn went to go inform different servants to grab the members of the Small Council. Helaena proceeded to her own quarters and with the help of her handmaidens, quickly stripped and donned a completely black dress that looked to be made out of dragon scales, a black cape with a red underside flowing behind her as she walked purposefully through the halls. The crown sat heavily on her head, glistening no less than it did the day she first put it on her head.

"My Queen," Tywin approached his Queen who was heading for the stables, "Is it prudent, to go out into Flea Bottom? Now?"

"When else would you suggest we go Tywin? After a few more orphans die?" Helaena stepped on a stirrup and swung herself up onto her horse.

"Where is Pycelle? He needs to inform all the capable maesters to open their doors in preparation to receive some very burnt children,"

From a top of her horse, Helaena continued to bark orders at the people around her. Her Queensguard surrounding her and the Small Council as they began to make their way to the Flea Bottom orphanage. Helaena, atop her horse, was the only one besides the Queensguard who felt brave enough to leave herself out in the open despite all the protests from the men around her.

In the carriages held all the members of the Small Council who were looking amongst each other incredulously. Helaena had some rash decisions, yes, but generally they were also relatively well thought. This, riding through King's Landing and heading toward Flea Bottom while out in the open and not in a carriage? It was borderline suicidal. Lucky for her that the Queensguard should be there to protect them, the men all agreed.

There was screaming and crying as Helaena and the rest of the party approached the orphanage, whose walls had turned black from the fire that had burned it. The structure was still standing, but there was ash everywhere and the area was still hot from the residual heat of the fire that had already died.

Soldiers and maesters quickly made their way in, as Helaena swung off her horse and the rest of the Small Council stepped out of their carriages and stood outside watching the progress. Charred children's bodies, dead and undead, were being carried out with the gentlest of care. For those that were alive, each small extra movement sent a stomach churning scream of pain that had even the most hardened men cringe.

"Varys,"

The call startled the Master of Whisperers for a moment before he quickly made his way to the Queen's side, "Yes my Queen?"

"What do your little birds have to say about this?"

Varys folded his hands together and bowed his heads, "My Queen, it was a group of rebels…merely a group of rebels,"

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Helaena took a step forward toward the charred building, "The words 'usurper' are written in blood against the stone walls,"

"My Queen, there really is no certain way to find out who did this," Jon Arryn approached the Queen, meaning to place a hand on her shoulder but thinking better of himself and stopped.

Running her hand gently across the charred building where the words were painted, Helaena stared at the words before her, "I beg to differ. Tell me, of all the Lords, who hasn't sworn their fealty to me yet?"

Stepping out from the rest of the Small Council, Tywin stood next to his Queen amongst the rubble, "That would be the Houses Karstark, Marbrand, Tully, Florent, and…Martell,"

"All lesser houses then except for Tully and Martell," taking a pause to contemplate a moment, Helaena walked back to her horse and swung atop before approaching her Lord Commander.

"If you would, Barristan," at the prompt, the Lord Commander sent out a whistle that echoed through Flea Bottom and cast everyone's attention to the center, in front of the orphanage, where Helaena sat a top of her horse.

"Citizens of Flea Bottom," Helaena's voice called out to all those who were present and listening, "A great tragedy has befallen all of you and my heart bleeds to see you all disenfranchised in any way," looking meaningfully at each dirty face out in the crowd Helaena's lips were set in a grim line.

"As Queen, I will be sending maesters in order to help the burnt children, contractors that will begin reconstruction of the orphanage, and soldiers that will be here everyday in order to give out food and water to those in need. The traitors who have done this will be captured and brought to you all. It is you, all of you, who will decide how to punish people who are more than happy to make children a sacrifice in their petty games,"

The announcement was met with silence first, but eventually people began clapping and eventually the clapping became a roar of cheering and shouting, people calling for the Gods to Bless Queen Helaena. The Lords of the Small Council looked around astounded, casting their glances between the filthy people of Flea Bottom and Queen Helaena, who sat regally and stoically on top of her horse.

Helaena rode the short distance over to the Small Council, "Send ravens to all the Lords of the Houses who have yet to sworn fealty. Tell them they have until the end of this month to be here, in King's Landing, ready to bend the knee. If not, they are actively participating in treason and at war with the Crown,"

"That is within a fortnight my Queen," Tywin spluttered, unsure of how the Lords would get to King's Landing so quickly.

"Wonderfully observant of you Tywin, but if I wanted you to tell me what I already know, I wouldn't have made you my Hand. Send the letter," Helaena ordered the Lannister Lord.

"My Queen, where will we be getting the resources, to provide for your promises?" Mace Tyrell interrupted the Queen—although his thoughts were on all the Lord's minds.

The Queen knew that the resources had already been vastly overextended after the Rebellion. Most of the gold dragons that belonged to the Crown had gone to repairing the damage that was done and the restoration of the Dragon pit and Summerhall.

Other resources, borrowed from the Lannisters and the Tyrells, were being allocated into the training of the standing army and navy Helaena had ordered to be assembled, molding soldiers that would serve the Crown. To constantly rely on the armies of her Lords was not smart, and Helaena knew that. She needed men loyal to the Crown, her, and only the Crown, her.

The Crown's gold was starting to run low. Helaena didn't want to reach further into debt, and Dragonstone's own vaults were only half-filled and the Queen was unwilling to touch those either. That money, in one of the only lessons that her mother had decided to impart on her, was in case of emergencies, only for the use of House Targaryen. There were only two options at this point and Helaena was extremely reluctant to do either.

"Send a letter Mace, to the Iron Bank of Braavos. It's time to call in our own debts,"

"My Queen?" bewildered glances were traded between the Lords, all unsure what Queen Helaena was speaking of. The Iron Bank did not owe anyone anything, they only collected the money they had lent, not the other way around.

"Write the letter Mace, the Iron Bank will know exactly what I speak of," was Helaena's cryptic reply.

…

Rhaella Targaryen carried her daughter Danaerys in her arms as she walked through their home in Braavos. It was spacious and airy, right by the sea and well furnished.

There was a small group of male and female servants that attended to Rhaella, cooking and cleaning but the the former Queen had insisted on taking care of her own children. Helaena had provided for them well, richly even. Thoughts of her first born daughter caused Rhaella to sigh.

"Viserys, please come and eat," the former Queen pleaded, not above beseeching her son to come out from his room. The former Prince had taken to sulking ever since he was ripped from Helaena's dresses.

"I'm not hungry," was the testy declaration that came through the shut door.

Sighing once again, Rhaella made her way to the door of Viserys's room, knocking on it gently with her free hand as she balanced Danaerys on her one arm, "Open the door Viserys,"

There was a moment of pause, but eventually the door did open to reveal a young boy with his platinum/silver blonde hair tousled and his purple eyes rimmed red from the tears that he had been shedding. No doubt Viserys, who was so young, was missing home and his elder siblings. They were close, or at the very least, Viserys was Helaena's and Rhaegar's constant shadow. This separation was probably very painful for him.

"I want to go home," the young boy grumbled, crossing his arms and seating himself back onto his bed.

"I know my love, but this is home now," Rhaella soothed, sitting herself on the bed next to Viserys, taking care not to jostle Danaerys who was sleeping soundly.

"No it's not," Viserys objected impudently, "It's not home and I don't know why we're here when we should be home, home with Helaena and Rhaegar and Father,"

Sighing, Rhaella took her free hand and ran it through Viserys hair, "My love, I've told you before, your father and Rhaegar and Helaena have us sent away for our safety—rebels were attacking King's Landing and it was unsafe for us to stay in Westeros,"

"So once it's safe again Father will have us come back? I want to see Rhaegar and Helaena," the innocent question managed to pierce Rhaella's heart with pain.

No, they weren't ever going home. Viserys's beloved sister had her family exiled, her father and brother killed, and now she was sitting on top of a throne that didn't belong to her. Rhaella desperately wanted to voice all of this but the former Queen was also severely conscious of the fact that the people that Helaena had hired to take care of them were also there to make sure that Rhaella and Helaena's siblings behaved.

Viserys was too young, too innocent to understand death and the treason that his sister had committed when she sided with the rebels. As much as Rhaella hated Aerys, the former Queen also understood her duty and place, and Helaena had cast aside both in order to serve her own ambitions.

 _But maybe when he was older_ , Rhaella contemplated, she would tell her son the truth. And together the three of them would take King's Landing and the Seven Kingdoms back for Viserys.

"King's Landing won't be safe for a very long time Viserys," Rhaella answered, "But if you are very, very patient and a good boy, the three of us will go back home one day and maybe you'll even get to be King," the former Queen whispered into her son's ear, causing the little boy's eyes to widen.

"Me? King?" the idea was almost impossible to Viserys, who knew that Rhaegar would get to be King first before Viserys ever had a chance.

Rhaella nodded, "Rhaegar's children aren't pure Targaryens. Their claim to the throne would be much weaker than yours—you can take the Throne, your brother would gladly give it to you," it was a lie.

What waited them was tumultuous future that involved blood and war, if they were going to take the Seven Kingdoms back from Helaena's grasp. Rhaegar was dead, and even if he was alive, he would have sooner given the throne to his son then let Viserys rule. But that wasn't what was important. What was important was that Viserys understand the throne was his so that they could plan their return.

Looking down at Danaerys, Rhaella's heart warmed at the cherub face of her baby girl. Still so innocent to the cruelties of the world. The former Queen was determined to protect her youngest as long as she could.

From anyone, including her elder sister's schemes.

…

"Is there something I can help you with, Lord Umber," Jaime announces the last part smarmily, fully aware that the man before him is a sellsword hired by the Queen and not actually a Lord of a Lesser House in the North.

Jaime didn't know why the Queen insisted on keeping the man so close. He was only here to find the traitors, not actually be a suitor. The increased time Helaena had been spending with Bronn made Jaime uncomfortable and caused the Kingslayer to try direct the Queen toward routes that he knew the sellsword would be not frequenting during the few times Helaena had asked him to take her to the gardens recently.

"Just here to see the Queen," Bronn answered nonchalantly, unfazed by Jaime's sarcasm.

The presumption that he could just have access to the Queen irks something with Jaime and fills him with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. No one, not even his Father, would presume to see the Queen right now without express permission. Usually written, sometimes verbal but that was less trustworthy.

Jaime shook his head, "The Queen is not taking any visitors," not even members of her own Queensguard.

With the exception of Lord Arryn and the Lord Commander, no one was allowed in Helaena's rooms anymore. She had taken to sequestering herself and very rarely asked Jaime to escort her to walk about the gardens now.

"Oh I don't know, I'm sure she'd love to see me," waggling his eyebrows suggestively, Bronn's actions caused Jaime to sneer and stand up, coming face to face with the sellsword.

It was disrespectful, to speak of the Queen in such a way and Jaime felt compelled to protect her honor, because of duty and…otherwise…though the Kingslayer was not yet ready to fully admit it to himself.

"Aren't you supposed to be hunting traitors? As far as I know, none have been caught. Thus, there is no reason for you to be entering the Queen's chambers," at the assertion, Bronn laughed good naturedly. Jaime Lannister was certainly taking his duty seriously now.

"If you must know, the Queen enjoys my company and we have the most marvelous chats," a sly smirk crosses Bronn's face, "Although chatting isn't all we do,"

Fury erupted in Jaime's belly and his face turned a slight pink but the Kingslayer managed to not portray any of his anger and instead said his next words slowly, carefully, calmly, "Do not speak of our Queen that way,"

"Now, now Kingslayer, just because you can't technically get any action with…well anyone really, doesn't mean the rest of us have to live a celibate life like a eunuch,"

"You're vulgar," Jaime spat.

The statement amused Bronn. Really, the whole situation amused Bronn. Perhaps the only person who didn't know the extent of Jaime's true feelings for the Queen were the Queen herself and Jaime. The looks he would cast at her when she wasn't looking, the attention he would pay. Bronn knew he had to nip it in the bud while he still could, Helaena had far more pressing issues to worry about and Jaime's attentions would distract her.

"Ah but not as vulgar as you though am I, Kingslayer? What does it feel like to fuck your sister? I couldn't say I've ever tried the experience," Bronn's words cause Jaime's face to whiten, the Kingslayer taking a step back before gathering himself and trying to appear unaffected.

"Are you wondering how I know? Varys has little birds everywhere you know, and for the right price they're willing to give up information to other people instead of their master," Bronn took Jaime's shoulder in his hand, giving the man a pitying glance.

"Doesn't seem right, does it? To pine after the Queen who is unsullied and fuck your sister in dark corridors? I'm sure if she knew, Helaena wouldn't want you anywhere near her. After all, it would surely break whatever trust that is between you two,"

"I'm not fucking my sister," the lie was unconvincing and both men knew it.

Bronn shook his head sympathetically, "The odds are stacked against you Kingslayer. Best to let go of her while you still can and go run away with that little tart of a sister of yours. The Queen has more important matters to consider and relinquishing her attention from you will do all the world some good. After all, she has to pick a Prince Consort soon and it surely wouldn't be you if she knew the truth,"

"It doesn't really matter though," Bronn continued dispassionately, "You are just a Knight in her Queensguard. Not to mention the whole ordeal of you murdering her father. Not worthy either way,"

Jaime stood still and didn't even stop Bronn when he walked passed the Knight and knocked on the Queen's door. The door swung open immediately, revealing an irritated Helaena. She hadn't wanted to be disturbed, by anyone. But the sight of Bronn causes a very small smile to grace her face.

"Lord Umber," the Queen purred, an amused look crossing her face, "Come in,"

Bronn patted Jaime on the shoulder once again before making his way into the Queen's chambers. Jaime turned in order to speak but the door was shut in his face. Helaena hadn't even acknowledged Jaime's existence. And for some reason that hurt more than the Kingslayer could admit to himself.

…

"Is the Queen actually going?" Lord Jon Arryn had kept himself out of the usual squabbles of the Small Council, although appointed Master of Laws, the high-born Lord had spent most of his time trying to secure and restore the Vale again as it had been overrun during the Rebellion by fighting.

"Reluctantly, but she agreed to consider," Varys admitted, displeased with how little progress any of them were getting.

"You mean she actually let you speak to her of matters not concerning the orphanage and hanging men?" Tywin inserted sarcastically.

Once returning to the castle, Helaena was a swirl of furious energy and had taken to actively investigating which men exactly were in the group of rebels. The only reports she would receive right now were ones about them or the reconstruction of the orphanage and the feeding of the poor in Flea Bottom. Otherwise, she was holed up in her room.

"What was Balon Greyjoy thinking, holding a tourney now of all times?" Lord Mace Tyrell asked the men among him.

"The Queen is busy, hunting down rebels and traitors and he wants her to pick a formal suitor. Obviously the man has something up his sleeve," Olenna answered sagely, making all the men in the room nod in agreement.

"Undoubtedly, but a former suitor does not mean a betrothal. Helaena could just as easily reject whoever wins," Lord Tywin Lannister was sitting at the head of the table.

Not long after Tywin and Mace had sent off their respective letters, Balon had sprung them all with the news of the tourney that he wanted to host. Obviously the man was very unaware of what the appropriate time for such an announcement was and so the Small Council, bar Balon, had gathered in order to discuss the issue.

"True, but the fact that the Queen announced that she would consider attending also means that she has a plan," sipping from her goblet of wine, Olenna glanced between all the Lords.

"Of which, none of us are privy to,"

"When have we ever been privy to her plans?" the Small Council was surprised to hear this coming out of the mouth of Mace Tyrell. Even Olenna raised an eyebrow at Mace's rather astute observation. Usually the man was much more oblivious.

"What do we do then? Sit here like ducks?" it was clear that Varys was unhappy. Despite being a fervent Targaryen supporter, the man was not pleased with the way that not even his little birds knew what the Queen was up to.

"We do as she ordered Varys, help with repairs and good will until Queen Helaena deems us worthy to her thoughts," Jon Arryn defended, extremely protective of the young woman the girl he had fostered had become.

"Which Houses have come to swear fealty?" the transition was abrupt, but Tywin Lannister was a man that always went to the heart of the problem instead of speaking around it.

"All of them…except for Houses Tully and Martell," Varys answer manages to send a tired groan throughout the rest of the Small Council.

"Of course it would be two Great Houses and not any of the lesser houses that decide to not come and swear their fealty," Grand Maester Pycelle observed tiredly, speaking for the first time.

The man had been sorely overworked for the past fortnight as he and a team of other maesters worked to heal the burnt children. This was the first time he had properly sat down and drank in a very long time.

"They still have time though,"

"Three days, that's little to no time and they could have sent a raven,"

"Doran Martell is undoubtedly still smarting about the death of his brother and who knows what the Tully's are thinking,"

"The Queen sent a raven recently, to Ned Stark," the information startled everyone, causing all eyes to swivel toward Jon Arryn. Of everyone, Jon Arryn had the most contact with the Queen since the burning of the orphanage. Only he and Barristan Selmy were privy to what the Queen's thoughts and actions were at the moment but even that was limited.

"When did you find this out?"

"What did it say?"

"How could she not inform us?"

The raised voices all swirled together, causing Jon Arryn to lean back in his chair and wait for everyone to quiet before he continued.

"She asked Ned to send a message to the Tullys," Jon continued cryptically, "Lysa Tully resides in Winterfell with her sister right now as Catelyn Stark has just given birth,"

"Does she plan to hold the girl hostage?" Olenna's question resonated deeply with the other Lords, could they afford to antagonize House Tully like this?

An uncomfortable look settles across Jon Arryn's face, causing a shiver of unrest to go through all the people of the Small Council. Whatever news the Master of Laws had, it was not good.

"Lysa Tully's eyes have been gauged out and sent to her father. Hoster's daughter will be returned, alive, once the man bends the knee and relinquishes his armies and ships to the Crown…to prevent further rebellion,"

Silence settled amongst all the Small Council. This was not news that they were expecting. It wasn't news anyone could have predicted.

"And Ned Stark…do we know for certain that he has done this?" Mace Tyrell's face had colored into a slimy green shade, no doubt from his nausea at the information.

"According to the raven that I intercepted before giving it to the Queen, Lysa Tully is currently recovering under the care of their Maester and Catelyn Stark has threatened to leave her Lord Husband," Jon intoned stonily to the men and woman around.

Tywin sighed, rubbing a tired hand along his face. "Well then, now we wait,"

…

"Jaime please, talk to me," grabbing her brother by the arm, Cersei tried to stop him from walking away from her.

For the past few days, Jaime had been avoiding Cersei like the plague and the eldest Lannister daughter was not happy. She didn't know what Jaime's problem was, well she did, but she thought it irrelevant, so they were going to resolve it now.

"I am busy Cersei," yanking his arm out of Cersei's grasp, Jaime made his ways through the halls.

"Yes, I know. Attending to your Whore-Queen," the sneer that Cersei's face adopted made her normally beautiful face ugly.

Jaime turned quickly around and glared down at his sister, his other half, the woman that he loved..loves…? "Don't speak about our Queen in such a way,"

The reprimand startles Cersei but quickly her whole demeanor changes, from supplicating to cold, "Don't you love me still Jaime? Why are you forsaking me, your other half?"

"I have duties Cersei, oaths that I have to keep. And so do you," Jaime pushed his sister away.

The statement only further reminded Cersei that she was betrothed to Stannis Baratheon. Robert, although the Lord Paramount, had declared to all and sundry that he would never marry, in honor of Lyanna's memory. His actions resulted in Stannis Baratheon being named his heir.

Helaena was livid when she found out, it was another issue that had to be dealt with in the long line of problems that she was currently facing. With Robert out of the picture, Stannis could easily agree to wage war against her if he didn't swear his fealty once Robert died. Even worse, whatever children they had could just as easily start another rebellion.

In order to try and be some use for his Queen, Tywin had offered up his daughter. Cersei would marry Stannis Baratheon and unite the two Great Houses. In return for the considerable amount of Lannister Gold that would come as Cersei's dowry, Stannis Baratheon would come to King's Landing and bend the knee. The Stormlands were also smarting from the Rebellion and in dire need of gold.

Helaena had been severely skeptical at first, not trusting what Tywin was saying and knowing that the man was plotting something. Having two Great Houses join? There were too many dangers to that. So Helaena managed to extract one more promise out of Tywin and Stannis concerning the betrothal—their first born son would be fostered with her and be betrothed to any daughters she may have-no matter when those daughters came, even if it was a decade after their first son was born.

Cersei had become insufferable at the news. Stannis Baratheon wasn't handsome like Robert or charming like Renly. He wasn't set to be King like Rhaegar was and she didn't love him like she did Jaime. The eldest Lannister daughter had tried stalking down the Queen, trying to get an audience with her and asking Helaena to reconsider and change Tywin's mind.

But Helaena's time was busy and she had taken to isolating herself and she wasn't about to break that isolation for some high-born Lord's pouting daughter.

"I don't want to marry Stannis!" Cersei shrieked, "You know that Jaime! But I have to, so the only way for us to stay together is if you come with me,"

He had heard this before. It was the same speech Cersei had given Jaime when she had been taken to King's Landing and was trying to convince him to become a member of Aerys' Kingsguard. But now he was older, and Jaime wasn't about to disrupt his life again to give into Cersei's whims. Especially now when the results were that she was going to be marrying another man.

And there was the Helaena issue.

"We all have to do things we don't like Cersei," they were approaching the gardens now, and Jaime was hoping the conversation would end soon before they got to the courtyard.

"When have you ever done anything you didn't enjoy Jaime?"

Aerys' dead body flashed in Jaime's mind but he did not voice his thoughts to his sister. There were quite a few things that Jaime had to do, or didn't do, that he didn't like. Sit back and watch Aerys burn people, rape his wife, abuse his daughter. No, there was a great many things Jaime did that he didn't like, but Cersei wouldn't understand.

Beautiful and cruel Cersei, who had the world at the palm of her hand but was greedy enough to want more. She didn't care what Jaime had endured, never even though to ask. Only demanded more and more out of him.

"Jaime, please, just come with me. If I have to marry Stannis at the very least I'll have you," Cersei Lannister rarely, if ever, truly begged in her life. But she was willing to do it, if it meant that Jaime was still by her side.

"That's something that you'll have to bring up with the Queen, dear sister," rounding the corner, the two siblings walked up the courtyard, where Helaena sat sipping tea and looking out into the ocean.

Ser Gerold was seated with her but at the sight of Jaime, stood and made to leave so that Jaime could start his shift.

"Gerold, come to my chambers later. I have a few things to discuss with you still," Helaena called without turning around, Gerold bowed to the back of her head before turning on his heel and leaving, giving a swift nod to Jaime before he left completely.

"My Queen—" Jaime started but was quickly interrupted by Cersei who stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I beseech you to listen to my plea," curtsying deeply, Cersei bowed her head.

Helaena made no move of recognition at the cry, merely kept sipping her tea until her cup was empty. Glancing down at the empty cup, Helaena turned it over a few times before settling it onto the table next to her.

"What is it that you want Cersei Lannister?" the exhaustion could be heard in Helaena's voice but neither Jaime nor Cersei could see her face.

Straightening, Cersei entered further under the canopy and approached the table, unwilling to go all the way around and face Helaena, "I know that by yours and my father's orders that I am to marry Stannis Baratheon,"

The announcement was met with a wave of acknowledgement of Helaena, who was still staring out at the sea, and no more.

"But I don't know Stannis and the Stormlands are a strange place to me. So I ask you, your Majesty, that if you have any kindness in your heart, please release my brother from the Queensguard so that he may come with me to the Stormlands as my own sworn shield," Cersei had never supplicated herself before a person to this extent prior to this interaction.

What little Helaena knew of the eldest Lannister daughter, her pride was something all the Seven Kingdoms were aware of.

 _She must truly be desperate._ Helaena mused.

"My Queen?" Cersei stood, waiting anxiously for Helaena's answer.

The golden lioness held no love for the Queen; however, that didn't mean she couldn't acknowledge that Helaena was powerful and deadly in her own right. If this request displeased her, Cersei knew that Helaena would have her head faster than she could blink.

"Cersei Lannister, you want me to release a Knight from my own Queensguard so that you may take him as your sworn shield? Men only leave the Queensguard if they die while serving the Crown" finally turning around, Helaena looked entertained.

"You are either extraordinarily presumptuous and disrespectful or incredibly brave and naïve,"

Chewing her lip nervously, Cersei bowed her head, "My Queen— "

"But, exception can be made, and I will not keep a Knight that's loyalties are divided within my own Queensguard. So, Jaime, if you are sure that you want to leave me than you can. I will not keep you if you have no love or loyalty for me," the declaration startles both Lannister siblings who were surprised to find Helaena giving Jaime a choice.

Two pairs of inquisitive eyes settled upon Jaime then and the Kingslayer glanced nervously between the two. Helaena had given this decision to him, but it was obvious what she expected his answer to be. It was also obvious what Cersei wanted his answer to be.

Silence was cast over the three of them, only the crashing of the waves against the cliffs below gave any sound. Jaime's eyes settled on his sister, Cersei, the woman he loved who he had given up everything for. The same woman he had come out of the womb with, his other half. The half who hadn't asked him about the trauma of serving under Aerys or asked him of his opinions. The same woman who was to be married to another man soon enough, becoming his wife and bearing his children.

Then he looked at Helaena, who had forgiven him for his crimes against his family and had treated him like a real person—never asking him more than what he had already sworn to do. At the same time, whose temper could mean the death of anyone he cared for and himself if he wasn't careful. Helaena, who, Jaime wasn't certain where his feelings lied as they were still developing. Helaena, the Queen, who was still actively look for a Consort and had men lining up in droves within the Red Keep.

A future was nearly impossible with both women, but one more than the other.

"I love my sister," a triumphant look crossed Cersei's face but quickly fell as Jaime continued.

"However, I swore an oath and I am not an oath breaker. My dream has always been to be a Knight, and the Queensguard is the highest honor that a Knight could possibly reach. My Queen, I love my sister and I want her protected, so I beseech you to allow me to name someone worthy of protecting her while I cannot,"

Helaena stood, walking passed Cersei without even a spare glance at the Lannister lioness who was now fuming with her head bowed as the Queen went by.

Holding out a hand, Helaena waited for Jaime to take it. Hesitantly, the Kingslayer did and she led him back toward the table she was seated at, motioning for him to sit as well. Only when Jaime had comfortably sat next to her, did Helaena ready herself to speak.

"And who would you like to name as protector over Cersei?"

Jaime didn't even have to think, "Lord Bronn Umber," the words came out so quickly that Jaime almost stumbled over them.

Raising an eyebrow, Helaena crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh? Bronn isn't a Knight though, he is a high-born Lord of a Lesser House,"

"I have seen him, he is capable. And I was a high-born Lord of a Great House. He would be a good and loyal protector for Cersei until she has settled in her marriage to Stannis. After that, he could return to King's Landing if he wished," the last part came out tasting bitter but Jaime pushed through anyway, there had to be some compromise or else Helaena wouldn't agree to it at all.

They both knew that Bronn was more than capable of protecting Cersei. He was an experienced sellsword. However, Helaena was reluctant to release the man and knew why Jaime wanted him gone. Scrutinizing every aspect of Jaime's face, Helaena turned to look at Cersei who was watching the interaction between the two people sitting with fury on her face.

 _Not happy about Jaime's choice then, I see._ Helaena scoffed internally, taking another glance at Jaime who was looking at her earnestly, before making a decision.

"Four moons. That's it. I have plans for the Lord Umber and any longer away from King's Landing would disrupt them," Helaena turned to look at Cersei.

"Is four moons long enough for you to settle into your marriage with Stannis, Cersei?"

The question brokered no other answer than an affirmative. Cersei did so reluctantly, casting daggers at Jaime every now and then as Helaena dismissed her and Cersei quickly made her exit.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I find it extremely hilarious that some of you predicted this chapter coming about, just based on the content of your requests. Anyways, I'm very sorry for being gone for so long, after my midterms I got extremely sick and was basically bedridden for a greater part of the month. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please please read and review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.**

Ser Gerold Hightower, prior to Helaena's ascension to the throne, was the Lord Commander of Aerys' Kingsguard. It was an esteemed position that Ser Gerold had taken great pride in. The lost of it, was a great blow; however, Ser Gerold was also happy to still be serving the House Targaryen/the Crown, and thus did not object when he was made just a regular Knight of the Queensguard—it was still a position of esteem.

It wouldn't be a lie though to say that Ser Gerold was waiting for the Queen to repay him for his loyalty, and she did. Ser Gerold Hightower, although still a part of the Queensguard, was named Master of War, his task: to train the Crown's army and to handle strategy during times of war, thus giving him also command over the Master of Ships, the City's Watch, and the Crown's navy.

The Crowned Army, as it had been coined ever since its assembly after the orphanage burned down, was a large standing army that was strictly loyal to the Queen. The men that were in it were not initially soldiers, just men from all around the Crownlands. But Helaena had brought all who were interested in for training, compensating the families for the loss of income with jobs for the wives, lessons for the daughters at make-shift schools she had set up which had multiple septas run it, and squireships for the sons. Ser Jonothor Darry had aided Gerold in much of the training, less able to follow the Queen around much because of his injuries and taking great joy in training the next generation of soldiers who would protect the royal family.

Walking through the training grounds, Ser Gerold watched as all the men ran through the drills that he had ordered them to do, their wooden swords clashing together as they practiced the movements that would become necessary for them to become competent soldiers in battle.

"They're starting to look good," the voice startled Ser Gerold momentarily, but the Queensguard Knight and new Master of War turned around to see Ser Oswell Whent approaching him.

Nodding his head in acceptance of the complement, Ser Gerold grasped Ser Oswell's shoulder, "Thank you—but they'd be even better if they were to also have some advice from the great Oswell Whent,"

Oswell rolled his eyes, "I'll leave the training to you Gerold—but when you find someone good enough, have them come and spar me,"

"I don't think any of them will ever get nearly close to you, but there are some with potential," Ser Gerold admitted, his eyes sweeping over the grounds again in order to make sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to.

"Master of War, interesting title don't you think?" swinging his eyes over to Gerold's face, Oswell watched the expression of one of his oldest friends.

Ser Gerold smiled and shook his head, "It is just a title, like any other Oswell,"

"It is though? I don't ever recall having a Master of War or needing one, words have meaning Gerold," Oswell warned, although happy for his friend, the Knight of House Whent could feel something wrong with this situation.

"Speak plainly Oswell, what is it that you think is going on?" Ser Gerold snapped impatiently, never one to play the same word games that everyone in the Capital seem to love to do.

"I think the Queen is planning something. The assembly of a well trained army, a navy, and your appointment are just the tipping point," Oswell admitted, lowering his voice that no one would overhear the conversation between the two Knights.

"There are Houses that have yet to bend the knee, which means they are actively committing treason. I believe the Queen is just trying to project an image of strength with her own army and navy," the Hightower knight reasoned, not believing that the Queen would be planning anything particularly nefarious.

Oswell leaned in further in order to tell Gerold the next tidbit, "The Queen has dragons, live dragons. She's made an army, expanded the navy, grew the number of the Crown's ships, and has dragons. Doesn't this sound mildly suspicious to you?"

"Oswell, the Queen isn't going to do anything that isn't within the interest of the Seven Kingdoms. How long have we known her?" starting to walk through the grounds again, Ser Gerold could feel Oswell trotting after him.

"Exactly, we know her. We know Queen Helaena's personality, how ambitious she is. We are also some of the few privy to the fact that her temper and moments of insanity, although few and far in-between, have exceeded in intensity to Aerys sometimes," there was genuine worry in Oswell's voice, causing Ser Gerold to stop and look directly into the eyes of one of his oldest friends.

"Queen Helaena is ambitious," Ser Gerold admitted, "But all she has ever spoken of is peace in the Seven Kingdoms, and a return to the Golden Age of Targaryen rule,"

"And do you remember what was the defining characteristic of the Targaryen's Golden Age?"

Ser Oswell's question was left hanging in the air, as both Knights knew the answer. However, instead of answering, Ser Gerold went back to training the men, dragging Ser Oswell with him to distract the Knight from his borderline treasonous thoughts.

….

Tywin Lannister stared stonily at Grand Maester Pycelle. The two were in the Hand of the Tower, after having received an urgent message from Pycelle, Tywin had waited a couple days because usually the messages he received weren't all that urgent. However, this news, this could be terrible.

"Why was I not informed of this sooner?" although his voice was quiet, there was a storm brewing in Tywin, anger filling him to the brim.

"I wanted to make sure that this was an actual problem, and not just a one time occurrence," Pycelle responded calmly, knowing that he had to tread lightly now that Tywin knew what was going on.

Tywin rubbed the temples of his forehead, "And? How many people have been afflicted up until today?"

"A little over a dozen men, mostly around the ports," Pycelle sat down in front of the Hand, "The problem can be contained, it hasn't spread into the rest of the Capital which means we can keep it in the ports if we act quickly,"

"It would have stayed at just one person if I was informed of this earlier!" the Hand thundered, beyond displeased with what he was hearing and how everything was carried out. "And you're sure, that this came from one of the mercenaries from Tyrosh?"

Pycelle nodded reluctantly, "Yes, but if we act quickly, with the help of Lannister resources, surely we can get this done without worrying the Queen,"

"The Queen must never find out this happened!" Tywin interrupted, "If she were to know that mercenaries and assassins from Tyrosh were within her lands, she would have the heads of every member of my family,"

"Yes, the Queen does have a particular dislike for Tyrosh and their people. Especially after the incidents with her Grandmother and when she visited the Summer Isles," Pycelle agreed entirely with Tywin's assessment, which was why he had been reluctant to bring it up in this first place. "Knowing all that, you still hired them?"

Tywin stared down Pycelle, "It was a different time Grand Maester. The Targaryen Dynasty seemed to be on its last thread. The concerns of the Princess were not going to stop me,"

"But now that she is Queen?" Pycelle prompted, wanting to hear more of Tywin's explanation, though he knew where this was headed.

"Now that she is Queen? We must all tread lightly," Tywin sighed, "I'll have some of my bannermen gathered, discreetly. We cannot let the greater populous know this is even occurring either. The fear that was gather amongst the people would surely sent them into a riot,"

"Against your House," Pycelle corrected, "The Queen would be absolved from it surely,"

"An attack against my House is also an attack against the Crown—I am the Hand after all,"

…

Helaena sighed and looked back into the ocean, feeling Jaime's eyes on her, she turned toward the eldest Lannister lion.

"Next time, refrain from bringing people with you when you come to guard me Jaime," rolling her head back and yawning in fatigue. "And eventually, you'll have to tell me what your issue with Bronn is," _Not that I don't already know that answer…_

Jaime started but quickly calmed himself, "Of course Helaena,"

"He is an essential part to my plan—to have him leave now, when the rebels aren't even fully rounded up. It is risky,"

"I understand,"

"Do you?" a distracted look graced Helaena's face. "I wonder how much it is that you think you understand and how much you actually do,"

"I wonder that about everyone that isn't us,"

"Us?"

"I mean all of us-the Queensguard, you, the Small Council. The other Lords and Ladies could only hope to play the game at the level that you all do," Jaime stuttered, face flushing a bit.

"I see," Helaena hummed.

"Us, is it?" tasting the word on her tongue, Helaena found that she didn't really have an objection to it.

"Perhaps we should return to your chambers Helaena, you look exhausted," the assertion made Helaena laugh breathlessly, brokenly, softly until it faded into nothing.

"I've been exhausted for years, or couldn't you tell Kingslayer," the hated moniker was said deliberately, slowly—as if Helaena was savoring each syllable and watching with a certain glee as Jaime flinched.

"What would you have me do then? To help," Jaime clarified.

"Ah the Kingslayer wants to help—what a kind, benevolent act—there should be a round of applause for the sheer magnanimity of it all," as if speaking to an invisible crowd, Helaena's eyes looked passed Jaime and as fixated off into the distance.

"It is not an empty offer, my Queen," the assertion caused Helaena to look up and lock eyes with Jaime.

"It is not? How strange, and here I am having gotten used to empty offers and broken promises—but if your offer is true than will you do something for me Kingslayer?" Helaena's eyes met Jaime's defiantly.

Jaime nodded, never breaking eye contact with Helaena "What is it that you require?"

"Tell me the truth. Do you truly want to go with your sister to Storm's End? Don't be afraid of angering me, I have my temper controlled today," Helaena smiled sardonically, her eyes burning into Jaime's.

Hesitating for a moment, Jaime wasn't sure how to phrase his answer in a way that would express how he felt without laying out all his cards at once.

"She is my sister, my twin. I have been by her side for all our lives and now she is going to start another chapter in her life, without me," Jaime paused, weighing the words that he was going to say next, "I'm sad, yes, but I'm not going to wallow over no longer having Cersei here. There is more to my life than just making sure my sister is safe and happy,"

"Oh?" Helaena cocked her head to the side, an inquisitive look on her face, "And what is it that you want for your life, Jaime Lannister?"

Standing up, Helaena looked down upon Jaime, waiting for his answer. Jaime, for his part, wasn't intimidated but slightly apprehensive at what the Queen's actions could be next.

"I don't know yet, but I figured King's Landing is a good of a place as any to find out. I know, for now, that I want to stay a Knight in the Queensguard," Jaime affirmed, knowing that the only way he could possibly stay by Helaena was to be in her Queensguard.

As an heir, he had been a disappointment to his father. Too preoccupied with hunting and fighting and not at all paying attention to the lesson that would have taught him how to manage an estate or lands as large as the Westerlands. It was Tyrion who had paid attention and Tyrion who was now heir, rightfully so in Jaime's opinion.

Helaena lifted a hand and caressed the side of Jaime's cheek, startling him momentarily as he watched her warily for the Queen's next move.

"For now? Or forever?" the question caused Jaime to raise his eyebrows, but what happened next shocked the Kingslayer more.

Moving forward, Helaena sat herself on Jaime's lap, jostling a little as she tried to find a comfortable position and causing Jaime to wrap his arms around her waist. Helaena delighted in the unsettled and startled look on Jaime's face, no doubt unused to this kind of attention from her.

"My Queen?" Jaime cleared his throat, unused to being so very close to Helaena and having her attention solely focused on him in such an intimate position.

"Will you hold me? For just a moment?" Helaena seemed to deflate as she whispered so quietly and brokenly that Jaime thought he had misheard.

"Helaena?"

"For once, just do as I say without any questions Jaime Lannister," the sad frown on Helaena's face and the way her body was leaning limply him made Jaime swell with a wave of protectiveness.

Tightening his arms around Jaime, he felt more than saw as the Queen rested her head against his shoulder, her crown brushing slightly against his chin. Helaena rubbed a tired hand down her face before placing it on top of Jaime's shoulder.

"When I was younger, my father used to carry me on his shoulders all the time. Do you remember? We would go throughout the whole of the Keep and he would tell me all about the history of House Targaryen," Helaena confessed, her voice in a hushed whisper.

"My mother had little love for me, and I did my best to please her but no matter what I did she always loved Rhaegar and Viserys more. She wouldn't have spent any time with me, no matter how much I asked," Helaena grasped one of Jaime's biceps in her hand, needing to hold onto something, her other arm wrapped firmly against her chest.

"The Queen Mother Rhaella had a hard life. But a mother always loves her daughter, when it comes down to it, at the end of the line, a mother will always protect her children," Jaime whispered against Helaena's head, his nose buried in her hair.

Helaena snorted delicately, "I'd pay to see the day that my mother would make the sacrifices for me that she would for Viserys. He and Rhaegar was spared from the brunt of my father's madness because my mother saved him. She never thought me worthy,"

"You know that isn't true Helaena. You are just as worthy as Rhaegar, some would say even more so than Aerys or Viserys," Jaime insisted, tightening his arms around Helaena.

The Kingslayer marveled at their closeness. This was the longest that Helaena had ever allowed Jaime to touch her and he was reveling in it. Jaime could tell just how much all the events since the Rebellion had sapped the life out of Helaena.

Oh, she was putting on a good show, she even had enough energy to lose herself to her anger a few times. But after months of unrest and dealing with men who wanted her dead, Jaime could clearly see Helaena begin to tire.

Helaena didn't answer, content to just stay where she was. Looking out into the sea, she could just imagine the lands of Essos and all that awaited there. Securing the Seven Kingdoms was paramount but after, when peace was established and heirs had been produced, perhaps her and her dragons could reach as far as the Shadowlands.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed there, Helaena in his arms—dozing every now and then before waking up suddenly and gazing out at the endless ocean. Jaime didn't say anything, didn't even complain as his legs began to lose feeling, only tightened his arms around Helaena further and rest his chin against the top of her head.

"What are you doing to me?" Jaime whispered more to himself than anyone else, not noticing that Helaena's eyes had cracked open and she had heard what he said.

…

Walder Frey had always wanted more for his House, for his family. In this point in time, they were just another House in the line of bannermen for the Tullys, even if they did hold a large portion of land in the Riverlands. But the Lord of House Frey had always wanted more. And it seemed the Seven had finally decided to answer his prayers.

Walder Frey briefly glanced through the letter from King's Landing, reading what instruction awaited him next. Opening the chest before him, Walder inspected the pile of Gold Dragons, satisfied with the amount.

"Stevron!" Walder called, his voice bellowing and echoing throughout the highest tower at the Twins and making it so that most people within the large structure/building could also hear him as well.

Thunderous footsteps could be heard and the door to Walder's chambers opened, with Stevron Frey, his eldest son, standing at attention. This was the news that they had been waiting for. Stevron had seen the Raven arrive and knew that in a matter of time, his father would be calling him and they would go into action. The next steps of the plan were coming into play.

"You called, Father?" Stevron puffed out a slight breath, trying to catch himself after running up the stairs and to his Father's chambers in the tower of the Twins.

"Ready the horses and the carriages, we're going to the Trident," Walder announced, scanning the letter before him once again.

Stevron noticed his father's attention on the piece of parchment in his hand and a thrill of excitement went through the eldest son's spine. "What news, from King's Landing father?"

"The orphanage in Flea Bottom, it has unfortunately met a fiery end and the word 'usurper' was painted across the walls in blood. The Queen is supposedly furious and is starting a man hunt for the arsonists," Walder explained, scanning the letter before him.

"How unfortunate," Stevron smiled conspiratorially, approaching his father in order to look at the letter he was holding. "Is that all Father?"

"No, that is not all. The Queen has also decided that all the Lords that have yet to bend the knee have but a fortnight to do so or be declared traitors to the Crown, which will prompt retaliation,"

"Am I correct in assuming that House Tully is one of those houses that have yet to bend the knee?"

Walder nodded, "You are Stevron, you are indeed,"

"And the agreement Father, it still stands?"

"Yes, I believe it's time to have a word with Hoster Tully," a cruel smiled stretched across Walder's face.

Stevron nodded, "I'll have the horses and carriages prepared as quickly as possible. We'll ride for the Trident by the end of today,"

Turning on his heel, without even waiting for a dismissal from his Lord Father, Stevron made his way quickly down the stairs—eager to get to the Trident a fulfill their part.

Looking down one last time at the letter in his hand, Walder walked over to the fireplace that had been lit in the morning. Throwing the letter in, Walder watched as the paper began to crinkle and burn, the seal of House Targaryen melting into the wood.

…

Mikhail was tired. Having been running around the Keep the whole day in order to aide the kitchens, the servant boy had nearly no time to rest. There was always some Lord or Lady or another that needed food or drink, mostly wine. And they were always roomed at opposite ends of the Keep whenever it was his turn to deliver the pitchers and trays.

The hardest job was definitely serving the Queen. She was not known to be in the same location frequently, her schedule incredibly erratic. Thus when it was time to find her, to bring the Queen her meal, it would take quite a bit more time than it would any other Lord or Lady.

It had taken Mikhail approximately 30 minutes before he happened upon the Queen in the gardens. She was in the furthest area east, nearby the section of the gardens that overlooked Blackwater Bay from the cliffs above. But she wasn't alone.

The servant boy's eyes widened at the scene before him. He had come in order to supply his

Queen with refreshments, but instead found a rather touching and peaceful scene.

The Queen, wrapped in the arms of none other than Jaime Lannister, sat in a chair with the Kingslayer as they looked out to the ocean together.

Backing away slowly, Mikhail knew this would certainly be something intriguing to report to Lord Varys.

…

"Jaime Lannister," Olenna Tyrell spat the name.

"He is rather dashing," Willas admitted reluctantly to his grandmother.

"Dashing, you're dashing Willas. Jaime Lannister is certainly a specimen all on his own," the Queen of Thorns scoffed.

"A proper knight, one little girls' would dream of rescuing them in the fairy tales we would be told as children," the eldest Tyrell son conceded.

The servant boy, Mikhail, before reporting to Varys, had stopped by the Tyrell encampment in the western edge of the gardens and told the Queen of Thorns what he had saw. Lady Tyrell, displeased but thankful for the information, handed the boy two gold dragons and sent him on his way.

"Yes, too bad about his relationship with his sister though. That would be a nasty surprise for the Queen to find out," humming in contemplation, Olenna picked at the scones in front of her.

A look of bewilderment crosses Willas's face, "What do you mean grandmother? What about Jaime and his sister?"

"Surely you've heard of the rumors Willas? You've been in the cesspool longer than I have. You cannot be oblivious to it," Olenna shook her hand and smirked.

"Even without that little bit of information, Jaime Lannister is entirely inappropriate. A member of her Queensguard, sworn in an oath of celibacy, and no longer heir to anything—nothing of notoriety, no lands, no gold,"

"Perhaps she loves him?" the idea didn't seem preposterous to Willas, why couldn't the Queen find love and marry for it?

"Love?" Olenna laughed at the notion.

"She is the Queen of all the Seven Kingdoms—there is no time for love. Only advantageous alliances that will strengthen her rule." Olenna shook her head in disappointment. "The Seven be good, hopefully the destiny of her brother does not become her own—even if Helaena is his twin,"

"Grandmother, it is known that Queen Helaena has always been close to her father's Kingsguard. Perhaps what the servant boy saw was just a moment between friends, if anything Helaena must feel something fraternal for Jaime," Willas reasoned, knowing that if his grandmother thought to negatively she would do something drastic…like have Jaime Lannister killed. And that would send not only the Queen in rage, at having one of her sworn swords killed, but it would also mean Tywin Lannister would be on the hunt.

"I very much doubt it," Olenna snorted. "But the information does need more investigating. Perhaps the Queen and I should have a conversation soon,"

The menacing and conspiratorial tone that his grandmother's voice had taken caused a shiver to go down Willas's back. Hopefully, this would turn out all right or else another battle would be on their hands before the Kingdoms even had a proper time to recover.

…

Doran Martell eventually made his way to King's Landing and bent the knee, much to Helaena's dismay. The man had finally decided to set aside his ego and come retrieve the ashes of his brother's body in order to pay respects to it. She was hoping to have another body to sacrifice soon. Meleys and Sunfyre were getting much bigger and unless she hatched the last egg sometime in the near future, the third dragon would not be able to catch up to its siblings any time soon.

Having one baby dragon while the rest were more fully grown was not a risk that Helaena wanted to take. Luckily, the Dragon pit was almost fully reconstructed and the dragons would have a safe place to rest soon.

Sunfyre was easily the size of a horse now and Helaena had taken to having members of her inner circle bring up full sized cattle every day to feed him. Meleys was still growing but Helaena knew in a matter of time she would be catching up to her brother. As no one had entered her room ever, not even her handmaidens, everyone was still very oblivious to the fact that the dragons were even there.

Both had started breathing fire, a call of _Dracarys_ made them breathe fire at Helaena's command but the two dragons would also do it in order to cook their meat. She had taken to speaking them in High Valyrian, as it was the only language in which they responded. Reading through the books in her father's former vault, Helaena set out to train her dragons so that they would not go wild or try to disobey her.

The training was going well and it preoccupied most of Helaena's time, until Tywin Lannister informed her that Lord Hoster Tully had declared war against her.

"What shall we do my Queen?" Tywin, along with the rest of the Small Council, were assembled in the meeting room—all of them looking to the Queen.

"We'll march our armies and send our ships to the Riverlands and make Hoster Tully bend the knee. The rebels have already been gathered up, before we send them to Flea Bottom to be punished, we can make them confess at Hoster's trial,"

"That is under the assumption that we can capture Lord Tully," Varys counseled, unsure of the Queen's plan.

"Do you really plan to make the Lord of a Great House stand trial? Who would take his place should he be found guilty by the gods?"

"I can always have him killed outright if you would prefer something cleaner, Mace," Helaena sneered, causing Lord Tyrell to shrink back in his chair.

"You cannot end a Great House without consequence—there must be someone to take Hoster Tully's place," Olenna advised, for once agreeing with her son about a topic.

"And there will be. House Tully has a number of vassal houses, all of whom were more than willing to bend the knee before, and who will be more than willing to bend the knee again, should it mean they be named the next Great House," Helaena was confident in her assertion, and she glanced around at her Small Council who were all looking nervously back at her.

"The Crown's army and navy have not trained long enough, the Riverlands will easily overtake us should we attempt to fight them," in an attempt to reason with Helaena, Jon stood up and stared directly into her eyes, trying to make his point clear.

Helaena started to laugh, an unsettlingly beautiful laugh that startled everyone around her. Even the members of her Queensguard, who were all present for this meeting and knew the Queen's moods well, looked amongst each other as they were unaware what the Queen could possibly be laughing about.

"Then call forth the men from the other Six Kingdoms. Is this not what was part of your oaths? To protect me and obey me when the time arrives?" Helaena spread her arms out before her.

"Well the time has arrived my Lords, for me to call on your oaths. Raise your armies, ready your ships, we'll all be storming the Riverlands so that Hoster Tully can see just exactly who rules these Seven Kingdoms,"

"But my Queen—" a stern glance from his mother causes Mace Tyrell to quickly shut his mouth, bowing his head instead to his Queen.

"Are you sure of this idea, my Queen," Tywin interjected—hoping not to incite the Queen's ire but knowing this wasn't the best of plans.

Starting a war when one just ended would do nothing but deplete the Seven Kingdoms of more resources. They were already so far in debt. More gold and food being used to wage war against one errant Lord was going to cripple the Crown.

"Lord Varys, what have your little birds been saying? I'm sure they've heard something haven't they?" Helaena ignored Tywin's inquiry and turned toward her Master of Whispers instead.

Lord Varys bowed his head, "They have heard some…news,"

Smiling, Helaena beckoned for Varys to continue.

"There seems to be a plan by Lord Hoster Tully to start recruiting other Lords in order to form a big enough army to storm King's Landing,"

"See there, right from the lips of Lord Varys which means it might have well been Hoster Tully sitting here and declaring it himself," Helaena affirmed, staring directly at Tywin now.

"We'll send one last raven, to Lord Tully—meanwhile, the Lord Commander can ready all the men with the Commanders from the other Houses," Jon Arryn reasoned, hoping that they could make one last attempt at keeping away from any fighting.

With a nod of assent, the men began filing out. All of them less than eager to do as the Queen bid, as it would mean potentially starting another war. However, even they could not see a way out of this. Not after the lack of communication by House Tully and the retribution that Queen Helaena had Ned Stark lay out. Once everyone was gone, the only people left in the meeting room were Olenna and Helaena, who watched each other from opposite sides of the table.

"Brave of you, to attack one of the Lord Paramounts when you've only just established your rule," Olenna commented imperturbably.

"Well, if I'm going to make these dogs heel, I have to do it affectively don't I?" Helaena quirked an eyebrow, folding her hands in front of her on the table.

"Making an example of House Tully will only serve to show the rest of the Lords that I will not be afraid to come after them as well should they break their oaths and prove themselves disloyal,"

"And what happens if all these men come together and rebel? Decide that you're not good enough of a Queen or just as mad as your father? What then?" the question, to Olenna's surprise, only makes Helaena chuckle.

"You know my House sigil, do you not Lady Olenna?"

"Everyone knows what House Targaryen's sigil is Helaena, what does it have to do with our conversation?" Olenna quipped tartly.

"Amuse me Lady Tyrell, what is my house sigil?"

Olenna sighed, "A three headed dragon,"

Nodding, Helaena motioned for Olenna to continue, "And my house words?"

Looking at Helaena searchingly, Olenna complied, "Fire and Blood,"

"Fire and Blood," Helaena purred, "Three dragons. These men are sheep Lady Tyrell—I remember you telling me so when I was younger. And I am not a sheep, I am a dragon and I am going to _be_ a dragon,"

The news caused Olenna to raise an eyebrow in question. She was surprised that the Queen could remember a conversation they had so long ago in Highgarden, when Helaena had come with the royal party for a tourney. The Queen of Thorns at the time had decided to spend time with her grandchildren and their new companions, especially because their companions consisted of the future heir and the princess, who was the pride and joy of her father the King.

The Queen smirked, "Can you keep a secret Olenna Tyrell?"

The Queen of Thorns watched the Targaryen Queen before her, trying to reason just what exactly the girl before her was trying to say. It was true, so far, Helaena Targaryen has been impressive as Queen. However, she was still a young girl in comparison to Olenna and so the Queen of Thorns was hesitant to put all her faith in Helaena.

 _Fire and Blood…dragons…there is no possible way…unless?_

"Are congratulation in order then?" Olenna inquired good-naturedly, "On becoming a mother?"

Helaena smiled wickedly, "Yes, they are in order Lady Tyrell. And I thank you for them and for the one that will come…for you see, I'm due for a third,"

The Queen of Thorn's eyes widened, but she smiled as well, nodding in acceptance.

"What an interesting turn of events. Perhaps you do actually have what it takes to be a Queen. Nothing like that fanciful brother of yours, Rhaegar," the name was spat by Olenna, a certain distaste in her mouth over the fallen Prince who had started a war because of his idiotic actions.

"No," Helaena murmured, "Nothing like him at all,"

"Tell me something Queen Helaena Targaryen—what is your relationship with your Queensguard? With Jaime Lannister,"

The change in topic and tone nearly gave the young Queen whiplash but Helaena couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the Queen of Thorns' bluntness. The Queen of Thorns was known to have a tart tongue, to be completely and utterly brazen.

She was also known to have a decent spy network and Helaena shouldn't have been very surprised that she knew of Jaime and hers interactions. It made the Queen wonder if Olenna knew of Bronn. Perhaps not, if she wasn't inquiring about the mysterious Lord Umber as well in her interrogations.

"Whatever do you mean, my Lady?"

Olenna rolled her eyes, "Don't be impertinent. The Seven Kingdoms needs a firm, stable ruler. Tell me, is Rhaegar's fate something you are destined to repeat? Will you fall for the same folly?"

 _Right Question, wrong Targaryen._ Helaena thought to herself amusedly.

"My brother was a great man. Kind, generous, and filled with love for his people, for his family, and for his great beloved," Helaena sneered the same part. Lyanna Stark was still someone that Helaena truly wanted to strangle, wishing that the damned woman had never been born.

"You said it yourself, Olenna, I am _nothing_ like my brother,"

Helaena stood and gathered her skirts, before turning to depart, leaving the Queen of Thorns to herself to think on the words that the Queen last spoke.

…

The soldiers of all the armies of the Seven Kingdoms, bar those serving under the Riverlands, made to march toward the home of House Tully.

The armies from Dorne, the Reach, and the Stormlands were already marching North and would meet at the border of the Riverlands in less than 5 days. From there, they would march with the armies of the Westerlands and the Crownlands toward Riverrun, where House Tully was currently seated.

The army in the North, after Helaena had sent a letter to Ned Stark, would rendezvous with the Vale and together they would cut off any escape attempt to the North.

The ships had already launched, all of them making port at the Iron Islands before they headed toward the Riverlands and it would take no more than 5 nights before they reached their harbors and barred the people there from escaping by sea.

Lord Commander Barristan Selmy and the Master of War Ser Gerold Hightower were both leading the men, all of them waiting for his direction as he had yet to move. They were rested right on the border of King's Landing and the Crownlands.

Nearly of the Queensguard rode beside Selmy: Gerold Hightower, Gwayne Gaunt, Oswell Whent, Harlan Grandison, and Mandon Moore—the newest addition that Jon Arryn had nominated to the Queen to be Knighted and sworn in.

The only three missing were Arthur Dayne, Jonothor Darry and Jaime Lannister. Darry was commanding all the ships of the Crownlands and would meet them and stay in the harbor, becoming their point of communication should anything go wrong.

The other two, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Jaime Lannister, were to escort the Queen and meet them all at the Trident. The Queen, being particularly tightlipped, had not said what it is that she needed to do but Barristan had an inkling. And if that inkling proved true, no doubt Lord Hoster Tully was in a world of trouble.

"We best move on, and soon. We're to meet everyone on the Gold's Road in a matter of days. It's no time to wait," Ser Gwayne Gaunt rode up to Lord Commander Barristan, having already taken stock of all the men.

"Aye, I agree," Ser Mandon Moore pulled up next to the two men, "All the men are anxious to go. The Queen said she would meet us on the River Road just a bit off Casterly Rock,"

"Anyone know what it is she's up to?" Ser Harlan Grandison asked, having not yet mounted on his horse and thus was leading it by it's reins over to a rock he could use as a step.

"What it is that Queen Helaena's scheming?" Ser Gerold Hightower answered, "Knowing her it could be anything,"

"Well she'll fulfill her promise, meet us when Queen Helaena's done with whatever tasks she thinks needs to be done. No doubt it's some kind of torture device for Hoster Tully and his family," Gaunt's comments manages to send a laugh through all the men listening.

It wouldn't be out of character for Helaena to delay herself just to retrieve a heavy torture device that must be transported just to give more pain to a traitor like Hoster Tully.

"I can't believe Eddard Stark actually agreed to march his armies South," Ser Mandon Moore observed, disbelief coloring his tone.

"Isn't his Lady wife a Tully?"

"Aye, she is," Ser Oswell confirmed.

"And you better believe Catelyn Stark is not all happy with how the Queen's request. But rumor has it, that Lord Eddard Stark fancied himself in love with Queen Helaena. Still is, matter of fact. There isn't anything he would deny her, not even going to war with his lady wife's family,"

"That's preposterous," Lord Commander Barristan immediately denied

"Ned Stark is doing his duty. He is doing what is required of him, just as all the other Lords are. That's all,"

"Not from what I heard," Ser Oswell countered.

"People have been whispering that before the Rebellion, Ned Stark was going to come down and court Queen Helaena when she was just a Princess. But after Aerys had his family killed, he was forced to marry Catelyn Tully and he's been looking for a way to annul the marriage ever since,"

"This all sounds pretty preposterous Oswell"

"How can you be sure?"

"If he really loved her, he wouldn't have married Catelyn Tully either way,"

"Now you're sounding like Varys, aiming to be the next Master of Whispers Oswell Whent?"

The voices of the Queensguard all started to blend together as they all argued the legitimacy of the rumor.

"Enough," the sound of Ser Gerold Hightower's voice managed to silence all the men.

Gerold Hightower was undoubtedly the Knights with the most seniority amongst the Queensguard, having been the previous Lord Commander for Aerys' Kingsguard. While he was just a regular member now, it did not mean his words and commands held any less weight than before especially since he had been named Master of War.

"We're wasting time, we should all be marching now. Not debating on rumors and whispers that have no foundations or facts to support them,"

The men grumbled their assent, and soon went back to their places at the head of the army.

…

"Queen Helaena, we should be riding out with the rest of the men. Why are we going to your chambers?" Jaime glanced over at Ser Arthur Dayne, looking for support, however the other knight had yet to voice any words to Jaime after the whole Aerys business.

"Just trust me Ser Jaime," Helaena quickly made her way toward her room, a place that all had been barred from recently. Thus Jaime had no idea what it possibly could be that Helaena wanted to retrieve there.

Pushing against the door, Helaena quickly opened it with Arthur and Jaime trailing after her.

"Meleys, Sunfyre, come out my loves," Helaena called.

Her voice was met with a set of screeching, a click of claws, and from behind a curtain that usually led to Helaena's bathing area, two creatures the size of horses stomped out.

It took Jaime a second to realize they were dragons. And when he did, the knight quickly shuffled backwards and slammed his back against the wall. The loud noise, the clattering of Jaime's sword and armor against the wall, caused the two dragons to swivel their heads over and look at him.

Helaena turned around to look at the two knights, "Aren't they beautiful?"

"They have certainly grown Queen Helaena, it is good to see they are not at all sickly like the last of their ancestors hundreds of years ago," Ser Arthur observed calmly, although internally he was quaking as well.

It was one thing to see the dragons when they were no more than the size of a cat, harmless really. But now, they were both the size of full grown horses and could more than likely tear a part any man (armor or no) with their powerful teeth. Not to mention, the fire breathing part.

Helaena moved over to her two dragon children and petted each head with a hand, unperturbed as they curled around her and fought for attention from their mother.

"Is this why you needed the Dragon pit restored?" Jaime managed to get the question out, his mind and body still fully in shock.

"They needed a big, outdoor area that would be sizable enough for them to rest in and bring their hunt to," Helaena sighed, "Unfortunately, they are not yet big enough to ride,"

"I find that hard to believe my Queen, they are the sizes of steeds!" Arthur exclaimed, moving toward the dragons but stopping when they snapped their jaws at him.

Laughing lightly, Helaena calmed the growling creatures with a calm hand, "Yes well, trust me when I say they will be considerably larger than this once they are more grown and only then can they be ridden,"

"However, I believe they are ready to help their Mother exact some much needed retaliation,"

"Why now, my Queen? If they are not yet fully grown?"

"Lady Olenna Tyrell said something to me recently, something I found to be particularly poignant," Helaena glanced between the two knights, Arthur who stood calm and Jaime who still looked like he had seen a ghost…or two dragons.

"If I succeed against House Tully, what's to say that the other Houses won't band together against me?" Helaena smiled wickedly and stepped out from the embrace of her dragons. "My ancestors united these lands with Fire and Blood, and I plan to keep these lands united through the same methods,"

"Well, that's certainly an…effective way to go about things," Jaime observed dryly, composing himself and standing up straight.

"Yes," Helaena chuckled lightly, "I thought so too,"

"Then shall we ride to the Gold's Road my Queen?" Ser Arthur Dayne bowed his head, "The men will be more than astonished to see this,"

Helaena shook her head, "No, send a raven. I want this to be a surprise for everyone. We're heading straight to the River Road and for the Riverlands. Tell them we will meet them all at the Trident…I want to see the look on Hoster Tully's face when he finds out what fate awaits him,"

…

Lysa Tully was crying, or crying as much as she could, given the fact that her eyelids were sewn shut so that no one would have to see her in her state. The Queen was a cruel woman, her sister's husband Eddard even more cruel.

Catelyn had begged, pleaded for Eddard not to listen to the Queen's orders. The man, for his part, had looked conflicted for all of a day before having his men take Lysa away and strap her down to a table while the Maester dug out her eyes and sewed her lids shut.

The youngest Tully daughter had been knocked out for days on a very strong concoction of poppy milk in order to give her body time to recover and acclimate to the shock. Catelyn had been by Lysa's side the entire time, holding Robb in one arm, and holding her sister's hand with her free one. The newest Lady Stark was beyond furious with her Lord Husband.

However soon after, another missive had arrived from the Queen, requesting Ned to bring his forces South and bar any attempt to escape North that the people of Riverrun would try to take once the armies had arrived from the South. The request also had the condition of bringing Lysa Tully back to Riverrun and dropping her at the doors to the Trident for her father to see that his daughter was still well and alive…for now. That took Ned even less time to deliberate, having strapped Lysa into a well guarded carriage and leaving Winterfell without even saying goodbye to Catelyn.

Right now, Lysa was crying in her room, as she had been escorted back to the Trident by a few of Ned's bannermen.

"Lysa, please stop, your father knows what he is doing," Minisa Tully consoled her blind daughter, rubbing a hand down the girl's back.

Edmure Tully sneered from his place by the window, as he looked down into the Trident and over into the horizon where he could see the armies approaching.

"She persuaded Ned Stark, your good son, to gauge out Lysa's eyes! Father needs to bend the knee," Edmure could see how this would turn out and the potential fate of his family frightened him.

"The Lords are reasonable people. I'm sure once they hear your father speak, they will turn against the Usurper and dethrone her," Minisa assured, holding her Lysa in her arms now as the girl began to wail harder.

"Mother! If the Lords were against anything the Queen has done, they would have already done something about it. The men in King's Landing have no problem with the way Queen Helaena is ruling, don't you see? He should have just bent the knee!" Edmure pulled at his hair, frustrated now more than ever. His father was being stubborn, stubborner than he had ever been before.

"The Queen will have us all killed!" Lysa wailed at the top of her lungs, the pain coming from her eyes flaring as the milk of poppy wore off.

"She isn't the Queen," Minisa reprimanded, much to the dismay of her daughter who only managed to cry louder because of her mother's anger with her.

"Helaena Targaryen is a Usurper and if only the Lords of the other Great Houses will listen they will see the truth as well!"

"Stop, just stop with your maddening tirades already woman!" Edmure roared, knowing that in just a few short hours, unless his father bent the knee, they would all be dead.

"You'll see the truth Edmure. When all the Lords turn on Helaena Targaryen, she will haven o choice but to submit," Minisa Tully shushed her crying daughter, and watched as her son merely shook his head and left the room they were occupying.

They would all know soon enough what their fate would be.

…

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stop now before it's too late," Jaime turned toward Arthur Dayne, who rode next to him as the two trailed behind Helaena, who was too preoccupied with her dragons to pay them any mind.

While Arthur Dayne had been privy to the existence of the dragons, the Kingslayer had not and Jaime couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. The feelings that he felt for Helaena all conflicting and brewing within him.

"Excuse me?" it was the first time that Ser Arthur Dayne had spoken to Jaime since the incident with Aerys' and Jaime couldn't help but be a little astonished.

"The Queen," Ser Arthur stated, casting a knowing look at Jaime."Whatever it is that you want to say to her, don't. Not right now, not when she is about to head into battle—you should know better than to distract her with your hurt feelings of having not known about her children,"

Jaime shook himself, glad that anger was the emotion Ser Arthur picked up on, and not anything else. Not any of the other emotions that were currently battling inside the Kingslayer.

"If she let you know, why didn't she let all the rest of the Queensguard know?"

Ser Arthur shook his head, "How long have you known the Queen, Kingslayer? Because I can tell you, I was there the night she was born. The moon was full and bright, not a cloud in the sky, and the only sound within the Keep was Queen Rhaella's screams. I was there when the Princess took her first steps, toddled her way straight into the King's arms while he was reprimanding another Lord. It had Aerys laughing in joy, while Rhaegar pouted and sat in his mother's arms still unable to walk."

"What's your point?" Jaime countered, shifting within his saddle, agitated at the conversation.

"My point is that I have years upon years of loyalty toward House Targaryen. What do you have to your name? Besides the slaying of her father," Arthur Dayne halted his horse and Jaime did similarly, allowing Helaena to ride further ahead of them.

"Queen Helaena trusts me," Jaime asserted, though the confidence was a little shakey in his voice, a niggle of doubt itching in the back of his mind.

After all, Helaena had never explicitly said that she trusted him fully, only ever in the moment or with certain matters. But surely this would mean an extension of a greater overall trust? Especially since Jaime was still a Knight in her Queensguard?

"Queen Helaena trusts anyone as far as…Varys can throw them—I would say herself but the Queen has been known to have a good arm," Arthur jested a bit, though his face was still solemn. "Just remember what your place is, boy, it's not up to you to air your grievances to the Queen, only to do as she bid,"

With that, Arthur rode his horse away in order to catch up to the Queen. Jaime stayed still for a moment longer, stewing in the words that Arthur had parted him with. He knew his place, Jaime was certain of that, and his place was right by the Queen's side. But the Kingslayer also knew now, that he wanted more, wanted to be the on that Helaena confided in and spoke to first—not that one that knew her secrets last—and it was a thought that unsettled him completely.

…

Almost every Lord Paramount stood at the entrance of the Trident, Lord Balon Greyjoy occupying the Harbor while Lord Arryn and Stark lay in the North. They were waiting for the command from Lord Tywin Lannister to proceed forward. However, the Great Lion was waiting, as ordered by the raven his Queen had sent.

The men were all confused, when a raven had arrived days prior, from Ser Arthur Dayne ordering them to continue forward without them. As they continued to march along the River Road, they all wondered what the Queen's party could possibly be doing to delay them. No one dared voice the thought that the Queen had abandon them to fight on their own.

But even if they were thinking it, that lack of faith was quickly remedied.

"My Lords! The Queen! She approaches!" one of the sentries hollered, as he rode up to the line of Lords at the front of the armies.

And he was right, atop her completely black steed, Helaena was riding toward the front flanked by Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Jaime. Men cheered and called her name as she rode by and Helaena gracefully waved at them, not breaking her canter at all. As she approached them, Helaena slowed down to a walk, and a small smile graced her face.

"I hope you didn't miss me all too terribly, my Lords,"

"Just wondering what could have possibly delayed you, Queen Helaena," Tywin's response was quick and a bit impertinent but Helaena did not seem disturbed at all by it.

"I simply brought a surprise," was the Queen's vague answer.

"What surprise?" Lord Mace Tyrell looked around.

Loud screeches were heard, off in the distance at the back of the army. A large, sinister smile stretched across Helaena's face as the screeches became louder and all the Lords looked behind their Queen to see 2 large masses approaching them from the air.

It took a second, maybe two, but eventually the masses were near enough for the Lords and all the men in the various armies to identify just what was coming for them.

Dragons.

Two large dragons, one blue and the other gold, flying at a rapid speed toward all of them. There were loud screams, as all the men ducked when the dragons began to fly lower and just overhead them—almost managing to scrape off a few heads.

With a final loud and unearthly screech, the gold dragon landed first, right next to Helaena and roared at the Lords in front of her before curling around the Queen. The blue dragon landed similarly, but on the other side of Queen Helaena, whose steed looked about ready to bolt from the situation, if it weren't for Helaena's firm hand on her reins.

"Dragons," Lord Doran Martell breathed reverently, moving toward the Queen and her two dragons but was stopped abruptly when the gold dragon swung its head over and roared at Doran, snapping its jaws viciously.

"Like I was saying," Helaena continued laughingly, staring at all the shocked faces of the Lords and soldiers before her, "A surprise,"

Leaving the stunned men behind, Helaena proceeded forward, with her two dragons jetting themselves back in the air but flying overhead their mother. Jaime and Arthur followed after her obediently, and once they composed themselves once again, so did the other knights of her Queensguard.

"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Robert Baratheon manage to gasp out from on top his own horse, his brothers Stannis and Renly beside him looking equally dazed.

"I don't even know what I think I just saw," Lord Tywin retorted, though his eyes were still wide and his jaw was still hanging a bit.

"Lord Hoster is fucked" all the men turned toward Renly Baratheon, who although young was very skilled with a sword, and who at the moment looked seconds away from bursting out into laughter.

"By the gods, he really is," Lord Mace Tyrell laughed boisterously, slapping his knee as he guffawed.

The other men began to laugh too, all of them hysterical from what they had just seen. The soldiers stood by, all of them frightened and perplexed at what was happening of their Lords. Everyone was laughing when they should still be cowering.

Eventually the laughter stopped and all the Lords exchanged glances between each other.

None of them were somber until Lord Marbrand, from his place in the back of the front line decided to speak, "Shit, that means we're fucked too,"

It took a second, but when the words settled in all the men realized the implication of Helaena Targaryen owning and controlling two fire-breathing dragons that were yet to be fully grown.

It seemed the young Queen was far cleverer and powerful than any of them gave credit for.

The ultimate conclusion was simple, the Targaryen Dynasty was about to reach yet another Golden Age, and this time, it was going to be led by a Queen.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello Everyone! This is an actual NEW Chapter! I know you've been getting a lot of updates since I've been reuploading bits and pieces of each chapter since I've been doing some editing so I apologize for that. As always I don't own aything but Helaena and I really hope you guys like this! Please R &R to lmk what you think!**

 **XOXO**

 **M**

Catelyn Stark looked down with an extremely displeased expression at the crying babe in front of her. Jon. Snow. The babe had the "honor" of being named after Ned's foster father. Conversely, because the Lord of the North had been spending so much time with Jon, he had neglected to even give Robb, his true born son, even a fraction of that time.

The new Lady Stark didn't want to admit that was partially her own fault as she had been avoiding her Lord Husband and was extremely reluctant to release Robb from her clutches. That little detail was set aside so that Catelyn could focus the full force of her anger on her lord husband and the bastard that he had produced.

She had never imagined that Ned Stark, good and honorable Eddard, would ever betray his vows and lie with a whore and beget a bastard. It was bad enough that most of Winterfell, if not the whole of the Seven Kingdoms, knew he was still very much in love with Helaena Targaryen, but after he had allowed for Catelyn's sister's eyes to be gauged out and sent to their father, Lady Stark couldn't find it within herself to ever forgive Ned for the transgressions he had committed against her. The list was long now and there was no recovering from it.

She debated, for a long moment, of smothering Jon, who laid crying in his crib. Catelyn had a pillow in one hand, contemplating the consequences of doing so. She wouldn't of course, the act being above her as a Lady, but it was so tempting to think about because the bane of her existence quite literally rested right in front of her. It would surely end a multitude of problems—one of them being the fact of Jon Snow's very existence. The other being the worry that Lady Catelyn has of Ned coming back telling her that the Queen had legitimized his bastard and named him heir over Rob, his true born son. It was a possibility that sent a shiver of dread down Catelyn's spine and for her, it was also an all too real possibility.

A knock at the door stopped Catelyn's thoughts from furthering.

"My Lady," Jon's wet nurse bowed. "I've come to attend to the little Lord,"

"He is not a Lord," Catelyn spat, hostility coloring her voice and her hands shaking from anger.

The wet nurse dipped her head submissively, "Of course not my Lady,"

"Leave him, a little hunger never hurt anyone," the statement was cruel and it startled the wet nurse who had only known Lady Stark to be a kind woman.

The kindness seemed to completely leave the high-born lady as she laid eyes on the bastard son before her. It was telling, at to what kind of person Catelyn Tully, now Stark, truly was. A fierce protector of her family, and venomous to any one else—especially those that she deemed dangerous. Honor. Duty. Family. It was written in her former House words and the words were seared into the back of Catelyn's brain. Jon Snow? He was not family and thus did not deserve the loyalty that came with being family.

"I'm sorry my Lady but my orders come directly from Lord Eddard Stark," the wet nurse brushed passed Lady Catelyn and picked up Jon, quickly soothing him and feeding him from her breast.

Catelyn gritted her teeth, and spun away from the sight. Making her way through Winterfell, the Lady went to her own chambers where Robb was waiting in his cot.

"I'm going to send a letter to your Father," Lady Stark announced to her son, who laid in his cot cooing at his mother. "If he doesn't give up these gods forsaken campaign against my family and forsake Helaena and Jon—we are leaving,"

Catelyn pulled out a piece of parchment and hastily began writing away with her quill. She would not tolerate this any longer. Her family and her dignity was at stake.

…

"Hoster Tully," Helaena called from the doors of the Trident. "This is your last chance. Bend the knee, or we will take you in to stand trial at Flea Bottom and let the people decide what to do with your body,"

The armies had easily made their way through the defenses of the River Road and knocked down the walls of the Trident. When the men heard the screeching of two dragons overhead, they either surrendered immediately or were so overcome with bravado and confidence that they tried to attack the Queen directly—foolishly hoping that their bravery would end it all. Which ultimately resulted in them being skewered by her Queensguard or eaten alive by Helaena's dragon children.

Now, Helaena stood at the gate of the inner area of the Trident, waiting for Lord Hoster Tully to come out and face her himself. And she could see him, looking down from his stone tower, reluctant to approach Helaena in the face of her armies and her dragons. Helaena thought it sad, that a once great Lord had allowed himself to fall to his pride and the whisperings and goading of other men, but then again she almost laughed at the very thought as well. _All men must die_ , but she was not a man.

When Hoster Tully had seen the flying beasts, he had thought he was going mad. When they began to set fire to his men and destroy parts of the foundational structures of the Trident, Hoster realized that this nightmare was very much real. When Walder Frey had approached him, about fighting against Helaena because she was a Usurper, Hoster had been led to believe that no one in the Capital actually supported her.

He had expected an army, yes, but Hoster hadn't expect all six armies of the other Kingdoms, along with a standing army from the Crownlands, the full deployment of all the ships from the various navy's, and the crowning glory: two fire breathing dragons.

However, the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands had too much pride, he wasn't about to swear fealty to a little girl. Especially a usurper like Helaena Targaryen. And it was much too late now, to say that he was going to bend the knee, when the armies from every major kingdom across Westeros had arrived at his door. It could have been the delirium, of the idea of maybe sitting on the throne that drove Hoster to say what he did next, or perhaps it was that he really believed what he was fighting for and was stronger in his convictions than anyone realized.

"You are a usurper Princess Helaena, and it is time you realize that. You do not belong on the Iron Throne, if your brother Rhaegar had lived and his children as well, you would have never even gotten to stand near it,"

"Pretty words coming from a man standing in a high tower, away from all the fighting," Helaena taunted, sending an uproarious laugh throughout her men.

The Lords standing behind her merely smiled, although all of them were looking decidedly uneasy as well, unsure of what Helaena would do next. Would the Queen really take Hoster Tully in to stand for trial or would she end one of the Great Houses? Helaena was unpredictable, her dragons even more so, and the fate of Hoster Tully rested in her hands…or their jaws.

"You are not my Queen," Hoster turned his eyes towards the other Lords. "She is not your Queen! Together, the Seven of Us can stop her. Can't you see? She is as mad as her father, but at the very least he had a rightful claim to the throne!"

The Lords behind Helaena shuffled, all of them glancing between each other. But none made a sound against Helaena. There had been whispers, that Helaena was prone to fits of temper worse than the ones that most people knew of, but no Lord had ever seen it for themselves—and neither had any of their spies. So, whether the whispers were malicious rumors concocted by enemies to the Crown, or actually true, no one knew.

Narrowing her eyes, Helaena pursed her lips and glanced from her dragons to Hoster and back. His comments displeased Helaena, and she wondered how he even had the gall to voice those opinions, and in front of her no less. Helaena was very aware of what the whispers were of her, and she was also very careful about her actions. Thus, unless someone in her inner circle had said something—Hoster Tully was merely pulling this piece of gossip out of the rumor mill with no concrete evidence to support it. But, it was still a piece of gossip that Helaena didn't want perpetuated. Obviously having this man stand trial would be pointless. Hoster Tully would only spit more vitriol at the rest of the Court, giving people unpleasant ideas that she'd rather they not even think about.

"I'm giving you a chance Lord Tully, to surrender and bend the knee. Or face the consequences of treason,"

The threat seemed to make Lord Hoster falter for a moment, but the man did not back down. Helaena, internally, respected him for that. He was strong in his convictions; however, Hoster Tully was also foolish. If he thought that just because he was a Lord of a Great House, she would not end his life, Hoster Tully was in for a nasty surprise. Of all her parents, Helaena was closest to her father, despite his brutality towards her later in their lives—and she had learned all her lessons from her father.

…

" _You must be quick and harsh with your judgments Helaena. Quick enough that the people around you barely register it before they are entrapped in another concern of State and don't have time to think about what you just did and the trivial moralities that go with it. But, you must also be harsh enough, so that the sting of the punishment lasts in the back of their minds, so that should they ever think of you in an otherwise negative way—there will always be a sense of foreboding of acting against you" King Aerys' informed his daughter, who was sitting on his knee and had just finished her lessons for the day._

 _The two of them were alone in the throne room, the King sitting comfortably on the Iron Throne. Aerys was giving Helaena yet another lesson about ruling the Seven Kingdoms, despite Rhaegar being his heir. His little girl was a bright little flame that would grow into a roaring fire, and Aerys knew that she would be destined to be much more than what she was now, more than any one expected of her._

" _But Father, I'm only a Princess, Rhaegar's going to be King," Helaena replied innocently, her small legs swinging off her father's lap. It was a conversation that the two had, had before and the little Princess still didn't know why her father was giving her these lessons—only appreciated the time they had together._

 _Aerys smiled, a knowing glint in his eye—the tip of his finger flicking his daughter's nose, "Yes, but you are Helaena of House Targaryen—and do you know what that means my dear?"_

" _That I'm the blood of the dragon," Helaena answered promptly, breaking into a wide smile and looking up at her father adoringly._

 _Aerys' nodded, "You are my dear, more so than even your brother Rhaegar,"_

 _A frown came about Helaena's face, still unsure with her Father's logic. "But if Rhaegar's going to be King, won't people listen to him instead of me?"_

 _Aerys lifted Helaena off his lap and stood up. Stretching a hand out he waited for his daughter to take his hand as well, "I think it's time that I showed you something Helaena,"_

 _Helaena placed her hand in Aerys', "Show me what, Father?"_

 _Walking forward, Aerys began leading Helaena down to his private vault—of which only he had access to, "Your soul has been kissed by fire Helaena, just like the Targaryens of old, like all the ones who came before us. I had a seer confirm it when you and Rhaegar were just days old,"_

" _What does that mean, Father?" Helaena asked, curious as to where they were going—having never been in this part of the Red Keep before as she wasn't allowed to._

" _It means my dear, that you are destined to be a mother, the Mother, of Dragons. You are going to return the Targaryen dynasty to its rightful legacy," Aerys announced, both pride and envy coloring his voice._

 _Helaena cocked her head to the side, confused as to what she was just told. "But Father, all the dragons are gone,"_

 _Aerys pushed open the door of his vault—after having already entered the combination into the lock, "Not all of them Helaena, not all of them,"_

 _The door swung open, and there, resting in an open chest, were 3 dragon eggs. Helaena's eyes widened and she quickly rushed forward, tearing her hand out of her Father's grasp. Placing a hand on the eggs, they pulsed underneath her touch with life. The shell of the eggs glittered, making Helaena's eyes shine and sparkle with delight._

" _These ones are still waiting for you to hatch—the others are petrified and will most likely never see the light of day," Aerys stood back and watched his daughter hold the eggs. "In this vault, which only you and I now have access to, lies the secret to how to hatch them. Find out how Helaena, and fulfill your destiny,"_

…

With one last look at the face of Hoster Tully, Helaena turned her horse around and rode away, back toward the entrance/exit of the Trident.

" _Dracarys"_ The Queen hissed, loud enough for all the Lords to hear.

Two very loud screeches echoed throughout the Trident, before streams of fire rained down upon the wooden and stone structures. Sunfyre and Meleys circled around the whole compound, setting everything on fire. And while Hoster Tully stood at the top of the tower, Sunfyre flew by and grasped the Lord with his teeth.

All the Lords from below, backed away as well so that they were not in the line of fire, and watched with morbid fascination as Meleys took the body of Hoster Tully by the feet and pulled it the opposite way that Sunfyre was. The two dragons seemed to be fighting over the screaming man until his body was ripped in half, ending the screams completely.

Tossing the part that they had into the air, Sunfyre and Meleys ate Hoster before continuing to burn down the Trident.

The screams of men, women, and children could be heard all throughout the Trident as fire engulfed the land, scorching it beyond repair. The walls fell, and the wagons carrying barrels of supplies burned—everything seemed to disintegrate into ash, burning beyond recognition under the extreme heat of the flames. The dragons eventually stopped spitting fire and merely landed in order to eat the cooked bodies of those who had died.

All the while, all the remaining Lords of the Seven Kingdoms and their armies, from a top of a hill, watched as the two dragons rained mass destruction upon one of the Great Houses at the command of their Mother, the Queen. Fear and trepidation rang throughout all of them, as each Lord knew that this same destruction could be the fate of any of their Houses should they act against the Queen. But at the same time, if they were to join their family with hers, there would be an opportunity for their own grandchildren to be dragon riders as well. The diametrically opposed feelings roared within everyone, as they watched everything fall further a part.

While the rest of the men were distracted, watching her babies rain destruction upon the Twins, Helaena turned—looking around before she saw the smirking face of Lord Walder Frey. Raising an eyebrow and shaking her head subtly, Helaena approached the Lord. At her expression, Walder's face fell in contrition, before he bent his knee and bowed his head to his Queen.

"Lord Walder Frey," Queen Helaena's voice drew the attention of everyone, who swung their heads to see her addressing the man who was prostrating himself on his knees before her.

"My Queen, I swear my fealty, the fealty of my House, to you," the man's voice was calm and strong, this moment was one that he had been waiting for, for years. It was what was promised to him and Walder could hardly hide the excitement in his voice.

"Brilliant," Helaena smiled widely.

"And I shall name you the next Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, as you were the first of the vassal houses to pledge your loyalty when I first came to rule and have done so once again. But let this be a warning to you Lord Frey," the smile quickly dropped from Helaena's face. "Of what happens when you commit treason and cross the Crown,"

"Of course my Queen," if it was possible, Walder Frey bowed his head even lower to the Queen, afraid to stand up and instead choosing to remain on his knees.

"Search the vaults, raid the stores if they are not destroyed or burnt. I want a full report, before we even reach King's Landing," Helaena ordered Ser Gerold, who was standing beside the Queen and watching with fascination at the destruction that the dragons were causing.

"Of course my Queen, and if there are any survivors?"

"Round them up and put them in cages. We'll bring them back to King's Landing and have them made as an example—I did promise the citizens of Flea Bottom after all. Plus, there's an egg that still needs hatching Gerold, Meleys and Sunfyre are going to want to meet their new sibling soon,"

Bowing his head and retreating quickly, Ser Gerold rounded up a number of other men and began to do as the Queen ordered, after the fires had begun to die down.

Riding to the top of the hill, Helaena dismounted from her steed and waited for her dragons to finish before she decided to address her armies. The men stood, waiting for their Queen to speak, watching her and the dragons flying behind her. No one made a sound, either from the anxiety of what was occurring or the fear of what could and was about to occur. The dragons flew back into the air, circling a few times—their screeches echoing through the valley, only to obediently land next to their mother.

"My loyal subjects, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to you all for marching and sailing your way here—to defend my rule. The time for war is done, the last of the traitors have been dealt with and the Seven Kingdoms will be at peace," Helaena called out to the men standing in the valley below her, her speech met with cheers.

"Return home, enjoy your lives, and as a reward I will be sending food and supplies to your liege Lords so that they may aide you during this time of recovery," Louder cheers rang out amongst the soldiers at the news, happy to return home and thankful that their Queen was aiding them.

Helaena glanced solemnly at each face in the crowd, watching as they watched her, "And I hope this will be a reminder to you all of what happens when you poke a sleeping dragon. Anyone who even dares to try and defy me, your Queen, or any of your Lords, will be met with swift and timely justice,"

The cheering continued, although the other Lords very much doubted that the simple soldiers heard the veiled threat that was placed within Queen Helaena's speech. Even if it was very thinly veiled. But they heard it, and a shiver of apprehension slithered up the spines of all Lords.

They had all better start watching their step much more carefully.

…

Ned Stark watched in amazement as the two dragons laid waste to Riverrun. His army standing behind him silently as they all watched with fervent attention. The minor lords teetered and twittered together, all of them whispering about the scene before them, their eyes moving from the dragons, to their Queen, then Lord Stark and back again.

When Helaena had sent him the letter, asking him to aide her, Ned had been hesitant. He didn't want to offend his lady wife more than he already had, but Ned knew that what Helaena was asking of him was a part of the oaths he had taken when he had sworn his fealty. And Ned Stark was not an oath breaker. So rarely did Helaena ever ask him of anything that Ned knew when she had begun her letter, without even reading most of it, that this was something important. It was only after he had read the whole thing that he had found himself slightly hesitant.

When the dragons were done, and the fighting was all over, Ned waited for Helaena to come and greet him. They were close, the two had always been close. Thus, it wouldn't be an unfair assessment that Helaena would come greet Ned personally. Instead, a man on a bay colored steed approached him and as he got closer Ned recognized him as the new Lord of House Rosby, Alton.

"Lord Stark," Alton bowed his head in deference to the Lord Paramount of the North.

"Lord Rosby," Ned acknowledged.

"How may I help you?"

Raising his head, Lord Alton Rosby rode closer until he was side by side with Ned, "The Queen has sent me to deliver a message to you,"

Disappointment flooded Ned, knowing that this meant Helaena wasn't going to come further North to see him. The Northern Lord had hoped that if they met face to face, he would be able to convince the Queen to take a short journey North—as part of her victory, before heading back to King's Landing. Jon wouldn't be able to meet her now, and Ned had finally come to the conclusion that he wanted his nephew to know her aunt, to know his true heritage—even if it was dangerous.

"Oh? And what did the message say?" Ned tried his hardest to keep his tone cool, not allowing the displeasure to color his manner at all.

"She would like for you to send back your army to the North, so that they may protect it, while you and a select few meet her back in King's Landing,"

Ned's eyes widened at the news, not expecting this invitation, "And how long will this invitation last?"

Alton shrugged, "The Queen did not specify an expiration date. However, she did insist that I relay to you that she would like you to accompany her to the Tourney that will be held at Pyke in three moons. After which, you may return to the North if you wish or return to King's Landing,"

"There is going to be a Tourney at Pyke?" the skepticism could be seen all over Ned's manner.

After the last Tourney at Harrenhall, the Lord of Winterfell wasn't sure why Helaena would want to attend another one so soon. From what he could remember, Helaena had a singular distaste for the whole event because of Rhaegar. Ned had been on the receiving end of a scathing rant about the conduct of both Rhaegar and Lyanna. Voluntarily attending another Tourney was not very in character for Helaena.

"Yes," Lord Alton confirmed.

"Her Majesty's Hand and the Small Council insisted one be held in order to pick at least two viable suitors, if not one more, for the Queen so that one can ultimately be chosen to be the next Prince Consort. Lord Balon volunteered Pyke,"

"Then why would she need me there?" Ned scowled, displeased that Helaena was going to pick a potential Consort and he had to potentially bear witness to it.

Lord Alton shrugged, "Her Majesty did not say, but she gave me this letter to give to you," handing a small scroll to Ned, Alton turned and rode away after giving a brief goodbye.

Ned stared at the scroll for a moment before unraveling it, the familiar signs of Helaena's handwriting appearing before him.

 _My dearest Eddard,_

 _I want to thank you for bringing your men to Riverrun in order to defend my rule. As much as I would have loved to come to your side and greet you, there are matters that I must address back home. But, as I am sure Lord Alton Rosby has relayed to you, I would sincerely like you to come to King's Landing._

 _We can spend some much needed time together, like we did when we were fostered at the Vale. Robert will be there too, of course, but I'm sure he'll be leaving us to go hunting in the King's wood more often than not. I do not want to cause more trouble between you and_

 _There are matters at the Capital of which I must attend to, unfortunately. However, your safe advice is always welcome and very much appreciated. I do hope you will come to King's Landing, and to the Tourney at Pyke. I won't be able to survive these next few months without you, my dearest friend._

 _Ever yours,_

 _Queen Helaena of House Targaryen_

The official seal marked the end of the letter but Ned's heart swelled just reading it, his eyes scanning over the letter again and again, following each dip and curve of the letters Helaena wrote out. Who was he, Ned Stark, to deny his Queen? Especially when nothing but a cold bed and crying infants awaited him back at Winterfell.

For once, Ned Stark was going to follow his heart (as it also aligned with his duty to his Queen). Turning to the men behind him, Ned Stark addressed the Lords of his Vassal Houses.

"You're all to return to the North, let all the men, women, and children know of our Queen's success and of her dragon children. I, and a few of my bannermen, will be accompanying the Queen to the Capital as she has asked us,"

"Lord Karstark," Ned turned to look directly at the man who sat a top his horse watching his Lord stonily.

"Let my wife know of what has occurred. I will be expecting ravens regularly, in order to be updated about what is occurring in the North. And send Jon to me, to King's Landing, along with his nurse and a few of our men for protection,"

"Is this prudent my Lord? The North needs you," Lord Karstark cautioned.

Ned sighed, knowing what Lord Karstark said was true, "It is by order of the Queen that I go South to King's Landing. I would stay in the North otherwise, but until then I need men I trust watching over Winterfell,"

The men reluctantly agreed—wary to see their Lord ride further South and away from home, but a few stayed behind in order to accompany Ned. Eventually, as the men began to pack away their belongings and take a part their base camp, those of the North began to go back home, leaving the Lord of Winterfell to chase after the woman he loved South. Even if it meant that he would have to eventually watch her marry someone else.

…

"When were you going to tell me?"

They were all riding back to their respective Kingdoms and Helaena was leading her army at the front back to the Crownlands. Her Queensguard were placed strategically throughout the men, should there be any trouble.

The dragons were in the air, circling the whole army and keeping watch. Every now and then, the line of men would stall as soldiers would look up to gaze at the beasts. They were a magnificent sight, and having though that they were just myths previously or at the very least very much extinct, all the Lords and men in their armies were fascinated by the sight before them.

It was Jaime, however, who had been selected to accompany her at the lead and Jaime who was currently looking at her accusingly. It seemed the Kingslayer had finally tired of holding his opinions to himself.

"Tell you what?" Helaena asked, feigning obliviousness. Really, the Queen had been dreading this conversation, knowing that it was coming but not particularly feeling like addressing Jaime's concerns.

Jaime looked around before leaning in as close as he could, given the fact that he was still on his horse, "About the dragons," he hissed.

"I'm not sure why you are whispering, considering that everyone now knows about the dragons," Helaena stated bluntly, causing Jaime to huff.

"You're avoiding the question," Jaime jeered. "Arthur Dayne seemed to know exactly what was going on before we even got there,"

Helaena shrugged, "Arthur Dayne is privy to a lot of information that most others are not,"

"Oh? And who else was privy to this information?" Jaime scowled. "I am your Queensguard, as much as every other Knight in it. Did you deliberately leave me out?"

The Queen grumbled in annoyance before turning to meet Jaime fully in the eye, "Jaime Lannister, you are not the only member of my Queensguard that was not aware of the existence of my dragons. Do not try to play victim with me right now—I am not in a generous mood,"

"Well, then when were you going to tell me?"

"By the gods," Helaena cried in irritation. "You are such a nuisance sometimes; did you know that? I would have told you when I deemed it an appropriate time to tell you,"

The cryptic answer did not seem to satisfy Jaime, who continued to just stare at Helaena. The intensity of the stare only managed to annoy Helaena more, making her swiftly kick her horse in order to move faster so that she would not have to be beside Jaime. The Kingslayer however, only kicked his horse in the side as well, causing it to catch up with Helaena.

"Do you not trust me?"

Helaena turned sharply at the accusation, although she is mostly surprised at Jaime's blunt honesty, and when she turns she sees the anger and hurt in Jaime's eyes. Sighing tiredly, Helaena turned her head back.

"That's not an answer," Jaime pointed out, not willing to let the conversation go.

"I wasn't aware you required an answer to that ridiculous question," Helaena snorted, continuing on the road and not bothering to glance at Jaime. How dare he take her victory away from her like this, when she was feeling such joy at having burnt down the people of the House who were set to betray here.

"I think it deserves an answer,"

Helaena turned toward the rest of the man, shifting her horse around so she could address everyone, "We're going to halt here for the night! Set up camp!" swinging down from her horse, she grabbed it by the reins and grabbed Jaime's horse as well, leading all of them toward a set of trees, with Jaime protesting at the movement from on top of his horse the whole way.

The men quickly obeyed, starting to set up camp, to busy to notice that after dismounting from the horse, Jaime Lannister was being dragged away by the Queen to a more sequestered area, down in a nearby stream.

Once they were fully settled and away from the general populous, Helaena swiftly turned toward Jaime, her eyes blazing.

"Is your ego so fragile? Your confidence so weak?" Helaena hissed, jabbing her finger into Jaime's chest and causing him to flinch. "You are a member of my Queensguard, one of the best Knights in the Seven Kingdoms, and now you need reassurance from me? Why? Is ickle baby Jaime Lannister still sad that Ser Arthur Dayne won't talk to him? Does he need to cry into the skirts of his Queen to feel better?"

Jaime flinches but refuses to concede, "You have no idea what you are talking about!"

"Please," Helaena scoffed. "Everyone knew you worshipped the ground he walked on and now Arthur barely acknowledges your existence. Don't push your insecurities and broken trust with him onto me. I am your Queen, what I deem you worthy of knowing is up to my discretion,"

"Oh! So now I am not worthy?" Jaime's eyes were raging with fire, and now he was right up in Helaena's space, their chests pressed against each other.

"You are deliberately being obtuse," Helaena bit back, her eyes flashing with anger.

Jaime's blood roared with anger, with fire, and also with desire. And before the Kingslayer knew what he was doing, he had pulled Helaena into a violent, forceful kiss.

At first Helaena was stunned, but she returned the kiss just as ferociously. Neither was holding back. The excitement of war and their argument was making their bloods sing. They tore at each other aggressively, hands groping, nails scraping, and breathing harsh as they lost themselves to one of the most intense kisses in either of their lives.

Helaena regained her senses first, tearing her mouth away from Jaime's and opening her eyes to stare at him. Jaime, whose eyes were still closed and breathing still very ragged, was holding Helaena closely to his chest. Eventually, the Kingslayer slowly opened his eyes and green met purple.

Moving her hands from their position at his chest, Helaena wrapped her hands around the back of Jaime's neck, pulling herself closer to him. The action startles Jaime initially, not expecting, but certainly hoping, for a positive reaction. The pair stared into each other's eyes, Jaime leaning his forehead down against Helaena's and nuzzling her nose with his.

"You do trust me, don't you?" Jaime whispered, his breathing caressing Helaena's skin as it escaped from his before he nuzzled his nose against her again.

Gazing into his eyes, Helaena pulled Jaime down into another breathless kiss before pulling herself slightly away.

"I want you to compete in the Tourney at Pyke," the Queen whispered against the Kingslayer's lips, both of their eyes still closed.

It took Jaime a second to realize what Helaena had just said. And when he did, Jaime opened his eyes to stare at Helaena's. It took a moment for Jaime to remember what it meant to be a competitor at Pyke's upcoming Tourney. The Queen observed silently how his face was filled with surprise and wonderment. Perhaps even a bit of joy.

"Are you serious?" Jaime's voice quivered a little, as if he wasn't entirely sure of what he just heard and hoping with everything in him for it to be true.

"I want you there, as a competitor," Helaena confirmed, a small smile making its way onto her face, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "This will mean that you have to leave my Queensguard though. Become the heir to Casterly Rock and the Westerlands again,"

Jaime hesitated for a second, "Becoming part of the Queensguard has been the goal of my life,"

Internally, Helaena rolls her eyes but the Queen nods outwardly, as if acknowledging Jaime's words, "But is it your destiny? Imagine it, if you are Tywin's heir again, no one would dare speak a word against your, call you Kingslayer, and you'd be eligible to marry,"

"I could compete at the Tourney at Pyke," Jaime whispers disbelievingly, his mind a wonder at all the possibilities of the future that lay before him.

Helaena nods, "You could compete at Pyke,"

Jaime hesitates for a moment, "You'll be the Queen of Love and Beauty?"

"If that's what will please you, I will be there in the stands waiting for the victor to crown me." came Helaena's simple answer that caused Jaime to smile.

"That would please me infinitely, Helaena," sweeping her into his arms, Jaime placed another kiss on Helaena's lips.

…

Rhaella Targaryen crumped the letter in her hand before throwing it into the fire. She wanted to scream. Who did that insolent little tart think she was?

Quickly turning around and heading for Danaerys' room, the fabric of Rhaella's dress twirled around her causing the former Queen to make a misstep and fall. Crashing onto her hands and knees, Rhaella screamed in frustration.

 _I will claw her eyes out… have her hanged! She can't…she CANNOT DO THIS._

Standing up shakily, Rhaella started heading toward her youngest daughter's room, as Danaerys had started to cry from the resulting crash of Rhaella's fall. Viserys, who was still very much locked in his room previously, opened his door slightly to see what the commotion was.

"Mother?" the little boy called as he watched his lady mother storm by, "Mother, what happened?"

Rhaella by passed her son, not even bothering to answer, before she reached Danaerys' room and swept the crying babe into her arms. The former Queen cried into Danaerys' fluffy, down head. Her tears scalding her own cheeks.

A creaking sound made Rhaella look up at the startled handmaiden who had come to most likely give Rhaella poppy milk to calm her.

"Did you know?!" Rhaella hissed dangerously, glaring daggers at the handmaiden she suspected was spying on her for Helaena.

"My lady?" The handmaiden tilted her head to the side in question but was unfazed by the unkempt demeanor of the woman before her.

"Did you know what that traitorous bitch planned?"

The handmaiden shook her head, "I'm not sure who you speak of my lady,"

"No!" Rhaella screeched, jostling Danaerys a moment and causing the babe to wake and begin to cry. "You know exactly who I am speaking of! That back-stabbing whore I called daughter. Did you know of Helaena's plans?!"

The handmaiden's eyes went from Rhaella to the crying Danaerys, "My lady, perhaps if you could just give me the babe…"

Rhaella flew backwards, with Danaerys in her arms, causing her to hit the wall and making Danaerys cry even louder because of the abrupt motion, "No, you will not take my daughter away from me! Not my baby! Helaena can't have her! Let the gods' strike her where she stands, she is not betrothing my baby girl to some Lord that is already a fucking adult!"

Danaerys began to cry louder at the commotion, causing Rhaella to falter and begin to cuddle the babe harder, cooing and attempting to calm her child.

"It's fine Dany, it's fine. I will not let your evil, mean sister take you away," Rhaella promised, singing softly to her daughter in between her ramblings. "My little dragon, it's fine, it's fine. Please stop crying. Don't cry. I won't let you marry some old, dastardly Lord for your sister's games. I'm going to protect you, yes, yes I am,"

As Rhaella continued to ramble on and on at Danaerys who was not quieting, and only seemed to cry louder, the handmaiden began to slowly back away. On her way out, she caught the eye of Viserys, who was watching everything happen with a curious look in his eye.

"My little Lord, please, let me take you back to your room," the handmaiden took Viserys by the shoulder and began guiding him.

"Is my mother okay?" the little boy inquired, still so sweet and innocent to the ways of the world.

"She will be," the handmaiden promised emptily, knowing that the former Queen was most likely losing her mind just like her husband did.

"Is Helaena going to come get us soon? I don't like it here," Viserys confessed tearfully, as he stepped into his room and turned back around to talk to the handmaiden.

Despite herself, the handmaiden found herself nodding, "Yes, I'm sure she'll come get you soon. Once it is safe, everything is going to be find my little Lord,"

Seeming to believe her assurances, Viserys nodded before turning back around and going to stare out the window of his room, gazing out in the ocean.

The handmaiden closed the door, and quickly walked away. She had to send a raven to the Queen. Her Majesty needed to know about the deteriorating state of Rhaella's mental health.

…

"Dragons. She has dragons," Mace Tyrell whispered both reverently and in fear to the rest of the men in the Small Council.

After Helaena had called a stop to their marching, the men had decided to gather together in order to discuss what they had just seen. Her Queensguard and the Lord Commander were still busy rounding up the few survivors that were left at Riverrun and setting up camp for the night.

Robert Baratheon was out in the woods, with Ned Stark, hunting game but the men wouldn't have wanted the other Lords there anyway. They would have not been objective in what they had seen, especially because it concerned their foster sister. Even Lord Arryn, the Master of Laws, was having a hard time processing this information even though he loved his foster daughter dearly.

"So this is why she wanted to the Dragon pit restored,"

"Good job stating the obvious Balon," Tywin sneered, the Greyjoy had decided to allow his younger brother Euron take the ships back to the Iron Islands while he rode with the rest of the men back to the Capital.

"Do you think the knights of her Queensguard knew?" Stannis Baratheon asked, though he was not a member of the Small Council, the second Baratheon son was heir to the seat in Storm's End and thus the other Lords did not have any qualms with him being there.

"The more important question is why none of your little birds have heard of this Lord Varys,"

Said Lord flinched at the reprimand from the Queen's Hand, "The Queen has kept herself sequestered mainly in her chambers. None of my birds had managed to get in…I guess now we know why,"

"Who knew…little Helaena Targaryen, the first true dragon to be born in centuries and now she'll be ruling the Seven Kingdoms with them at her feet," Maester Pycelle chuckled darkly, earning himself various looks from the Lords surrounding him.

None of them were all that comfortable with what this could possibly mean. Especially should any of them anger the Queen in anyway. However, this also meant that any children she bore would more than likely be able to control the dragons as well, which made it even more imperative that Helaena choose a proper Consort.

"She'll be unstoppable, should she decide to take more land," Tywin observed.

"Helaena wouldn't do that, her concern is the well-being of King's Landing and the Seven Kingdoms," offended on behalf of his foster daughter, Jon Arryn was always ready to defend her vigorously.

"If people were doubtful of her right to rule before, there's no way they can be now. She's the Mother of Dragons," Varys commented, in awe at the spectacle in front of him.

Live dragons, ones of the size that people hadn't seen in hundreds of years, flying above them and breathing fire. It sent a shiver of both trepidation and excitement through Varys. He had always been a Targaryen supporter but his allegiance laid firmly with the Realm. Whether or not these dragons would prove beneficial to the Realm as a whole was yet to be seen.

"If men weren't vying for her hand before, they will be now. Consider it, having your own children be the first dragon riders in centuries," Tywin stated, a hint of reverence and longing in his voice.

How he wished he was young enough to be put into consideration, or how Cersei was a boy, if Jaime hadn't taken Queensguard vows, or if Tyrion wasn't a dwarf. There were to many possibilities, if only fate had been kinder to House Lannister. No amount of maneuvering would allow this to play favorably into Tywin's hand, at least, none that the Lord of Casterly Rock could see right now.

"My Willas is more than a good match for Her Majesty." Mace boasted proudly, ignorant of the fact that many of the men around him wanted their owns sons or brothers, if they had them, to be put up for consideration.

"Willas is crippled and unable to fight which makes him unfit to even think about the possibility of being a real suitor," Balon countered. "Euron on the other hand is perfectly healthy,"

Jon rolled his eyes, "Euron is also a notorious man-whore with about a dozen bastards throughout the Seven Kingdoms. He would bring shame upon Helaena,"

"You're one to talk Jon Arryn, you have no heirs!" Stannis retorted heatedly.

"I am not yet betrothed and neither is my brother—both of us are much more respectable options,"

"Please, neither of you have fought any real wars, only your brother has! The Queen needs someone who has experience,"

"And are you saying you have more experience?"

"More than you do!"

The men continued to squabble, pushing the fear of Helaena's dragons into the back of their mind in favor of debating who would become her next Prince Consort. Now that the Seven Kingdoms were (mostly) united, it was important to establish a legacy and each man wanted their own House put on top. The issue with the dragons would be thought about later; however, whether ignoring the issue was a prudent move would be up to fate.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello Everyone! Long time no see! Thank you for sticking by me during this rather long hiatus. I have looked over this chapter over and over again for at least fifty times, deciding whether or not it was ready to be published. Finally, I have bitten the bullet and decided to just go for it. Worst comes to worst, I may just repost it specifically later on. Anyways, as always, I don't own GOT or any of the characters except Helaena. And also, please R &R to let me know what you think! **

**Best,**

 **M**

Tycho Nestoris crumpled the letter that was in his hand, having arrived by raven just a few days ago. It was yet another entreaty by the representatives of Queen Helaena, and the Seven Kingdoms, to pay the debts the Iron Bank owed for the gold and soldiers the Queen had provided when she was just a Princess.

It was an uncomfortable situation, that the Iron Bank owed the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms' money; meanwhile, House Lannister owed the Iron Bank a great deal as well. But at the agreement that every lender signed, the representatives were not to speak of the information of their clients to other people.

For the Iron Bank to owe something to anyone, well it was not a common occurrence, had only happened a handful of times within the Bank's history—and always because of foreign invaders who had tried to take over Braavos. Despite being on of the largest of the Free Cities—Braavos was also frequently a target for foreigners to try and claim. Sometimes, the city required outside help, and while they usually kept their resources toward armies and mercenaries in Essos, the deal that the Princess had offered was just too hard to resist. Now though, it seemed like the Princess turned Queen was calling in her debt.

But with Tywin Lannister also refusing to answer his letters, Tycho Nestoris wasn't sure where he was supposed to find the extra gold dragons to pay for the continued military detail that Helaena had provided, or the gold that she had lent all those years ago…

...

 _3 Years Ago…_

 _The Princess Helaena of House Targaryen, only just having turned twelve name days, walked through the streets of Braavos—stopping at vendors every now and then in order to inspect the wares that they were selling. The last time she had been in the Free City, was during a visit that King Aerys had conducted, years ago—the Princess had yet to explore the place on her own authority. A small detail of Aerys' own Kingsguard followed the Princess, the Master of Coin Qarlton of House Chelsted her formal escort as he had his own business with the Iron Bank to speak of._

 _"_ _Why can't I attend the meeting as well Qarlton?" Helaena frowned, picking up an apple—tossing it up in the air before catching it and taking a bite out of the fruit. They had this argument, the whole entire time that they were sailing to Essos and even after they docked. It wasn't something the Princess seemed to want to let go._

 _Lord Chelsted immediately rolled his eyes at the action of the Princess before handing a few coins to the vendor that the Princess had grabbed the apple from before choosing to answer her, "It really isn't something the Princess should concern herself with. If anything, the Prince Rhaegar is the one who should be learning from this trip,"_

 _For some reason, unbeknownst to Helaena, Lord Chelsted had never really take toward the Princess. Some would say it was because he had always been a traditionalist, and seeing that the King allowed the Princess to participate in the political affairs of the State rankled against his conservative proprietaries. Others would simply say it was because the Princess had rejected his son's suit—even though she was only 10 name days at the time when his son had attempted to court her._

 _Helaena hummed, not accepting this answer—nor any of the other answers that Lord Chelsted had tried to provide in order to stop her from coming, "But the Prince Rhaegar isn't here, is he? He's off playing his lyre, jaunting around King's Landing, and I am here. I'm sure my father wouldn't mind if I were to attend the meeting as well,"_

 _The Master of Coin looked conflicted, knowing that the Princess was right but not knowing what to say. The last thing that Qarlton wanted was for the Princess to be there, interfering with the proceedings—or worst yet, trying to give her own opinion. He took a deep breath before continuing with the conversation, "Yes, but the King gave no orders as to your attendance,"_

 _"_ _Which means that I get to make the orders," Helaena smiled dazzlingly, "I am the Princess after all, there is no other. And I have been learning the matters of State from my father and my grandfather since I was a little girl. I believe I can handle one little meeting with the representatives of the Iron Bank,"_

 _The two continued to walk toward the Iron Bank, despite Qarlton's protests that the Princess continue to explore and see the city while he attended to State matters. They were mainly there in order to return the money that Jahaerys had borrowed from the Iron Bank—nothing complicated. Although, the man that had been sending letters did say that the Iron Bank had an inquiry for the Seven Kingdoms', which made everyone in the Small Council and the King intensely curious. The Iron Bank rarely communicated with other parties outside of their strict guidelines involving the financial transactions that would take place. For them to send an inquiry surely meant something was happening._

 _Helaena bounded up the flight of stairs leading up to the Iron Bank, nearly running into several people on her way there. Immediately, she was greeted by a man dressed in all black and obviously a member of the Bank. He bowed quickly, everyone instantly knowing who Helaena was. Besides the tiara on her head, the girl had long silver hair and purple eyes—the tell tale signs of a Targaryen. And even an ocean away from the Seven Kingdoms, the weight of the power of Westeros and of the Targaryen family still held in Essos and the Free Cities._

 _"_ _Princess Helaena of House Targaryen, the Iron Bank welcomes you and your Master of Coin," the man greeted smoothly and bowed to the Princess._

 _"_ _Nice to meet you…?" Helaena nodded her own head in acknowledgement, but waited for the man to introduce himself._

 _"_ _My apologies, my name is Tycho Nestoris and I am one of the leading representatives for the branch of the Iron Bank that oversees the Seven Kingdoms' relations with us," the man bowed once again as Qarlton—after being left behind by Helaena, finally caught up._

 _Qarlton bowed himself, "Lord Qarlton of House Chelsted—Master of Coin to King Aerys II of House Targaryen,"_

 _"_ _If you would follow me," Tycho gestured for the pair to follow him, before walking off._

 _Qarlton cast Helaena a glare, to try and get her to stay back but the Princess ignored the look and proceeded forward, the members of her Father's Kingsguard trailing behind her and snickering at Qarlton's indignant look. The Princess never really paid mind to anyone really—the King's Jahaerys and Aerys having given her nearly free reign since the moment she was born. Helaena was the sole princess of Westeros and some would say even more treasured at times than either of her brothers._

 _"_ _We have the payment in full for the Iron Bank," Qarlton walked up to Tycho—hoping to circumvent any interaction between the man and the Princess. The Master of Coin did not think the Princess was capable enough in order to deal with relations such as these and had told the King just as much, but Aerys had insisted that his daughter go to Braavos with the rest of the party._

 _There was unrest in the Seven Kingdoms, all the Lords in the land clamoring against the actions Aerys had taken recently. His madness and cruelty was beginning to show more and more to the public and in order to try and rally them under his control, and sway public opinion from favoring his children, he had sent his once beloved daughter away to the other side of the world._

 _Tycho nodded, seemingly listening to what Qarlton was saying—instead he was observing the Princess, who seemed to be lost in thought and scanning around the Iron Bank, "Something of interest to you, Princess Helaena?"_

 _Swiftly turning to face Tycho, Helaena smiled brilliantly, "Just looking around. It has been sometime since I've been in Braavos—let alone the Iron Bank," the Princess hummed to herself before turning to fully look at Tycho, "Strange, but I remember there being more sculptures and glassware in these halls,"_

 _The Iron Bank's representative stiffened momentarily, but he pasted an easy smile on his face, "The Iron Bank has decided to streamline their design Princess, what with the vast amount of wealth we hold, we wouldn't want to tempt poachers anymore than we already do,"_

 _Helaena looked contemplative, though her expression did not show in the least whether she believed Tycho's story or not. "Is that so? In regards to security then, you would say that the Iron Bank is entirely secure?"_

 _"_ _Princess, perhaps you should save your questions for after I have conducted my business here," Qarlton interjected himself into the conversation, still attempting to divert all attentions away from the Princess who the Master of Coin believed to be solely incompetent, "Then maybe we'll entertain answering them,"_

 _Shooting a glare at her father's Master of Coin, Helaena turned to smile sweetly at Tycho, "I'm not interfering too much, am I?"_

 _"_ _It's not trouble Princess," Tycho Nestoris responded in a placating tone—watching the young girl and man interact and clearly seeing the hostility that stood between them. "And to answer your question: yes, the Iron Bank has the upmost, advanced security measures in all of Essos,"_

 _"_ _Oh good, because I was just about to ask about the robbery that took place here," blinking innocently up at the men before her, Helaena looked doleful, "Only a few weeks ago, wasn't it? A team that made off with a few hundred thousand gold dragons?"_

 _Tycho bristled, but his face remained stoic, "I'm not sure where you heard such nasty rumors Princess, but nothing of the sort has taken place within the walls of the Iron Bank,"_

 _"_ _Princess Helaena, perhaps its time you returned to the compound—you need to rest," the Master of Coin was frowning, placing a firm hand on Helaena's shoulder and willing her to listen to him._

 _The Princess shrugged the hand off, "Oh no, I think I'm fine right where I am. Now Tycho, perhaps you'd like to speak about your security problems and the issues that Braavos has been having overall with keeping invaders away? I'm sure between the two of us, we can come up with a fitting solution…"_

 _The Master of Coin shared an exasperated look with the rest of the Kingsguard, all of them watching as Helaena continued to badger a rather flustered Iron Bank Representative. Obviously, the man had no expected the Princess to be so up to date with Bravoosi affairs or what was going on with the Iron Bank. Truthfully, Lord Qarlton was actually quite surprised himself but he would never admit it._

 _…_

Tyrion watched from the walls of King's Landing as the armies of the Southern Kingdoms marched their way toward the Capital, awed by the sheer number of men but also by the large, flying beasts that were circling over them. At first, when they were far away, they seemed to be just specks in the sky and so Tyrion had thought them to be birds. But upon closer inspection, the two flying objects were in fact not birds at all.

The younger Lannister Lord had stumbled back in shock and as the armies and the two dragons approached nearer and nearer, the dwarf Lord began bouncing on his heels. Dragons. Tyrion had only ever read about them; after all they were long thought dead. Extinguished, with the rest of the Targaryens from the Golden Age. The Dance of Dragons had done a lot of damage to the dragon populations and ever successive generation after had proved unfruitful in breeding the same dragons that came from previous generations.

These dragons seemed to not have the same problem. They were huge, about as large as horses and given the fact that they couldn't have been hatched all that long ago—the two were more than likely going to become bigger and bigger. An odd, child-like excitement filled Tyrion that he hadn't experienced since he was younger, his eyes transfixed on the flying beasts before him.

"It's about time we left Imp," the gruff voice of Bronn behind him made Tyrion turn around to face the "Lord."

"How could we possibly leave King's Landing now?" Tyrion objected, turning back around, his eyes fastened onto the dragons flying in the sky before him.

"They'll be here when you come back little Lord, no need to worry—they aren't a figment of your imagination," seeing that Tyrion wasn't going to turn around, Bronn rolled his eyes and stepped forward, placing a hand on Tyrion's shoulder.

Tyrion looked up and over, meeting Bronn's eyes and seeing an impatient glint in them. "You can either wait here and face the Queen's wrath when she realizes that the two of us along with Cersei aren't already on our way to Storm's End, or we can go now and you can meet the dragons when you return. Remember you're the one who insisted on coming anyway,"

"Dragons, Bronn. Real, live, fire-breathings. Like the tales of old," there was a wonder in Tyrion's voice, that made Bronn sympathetic to his plight. Yes, they were magnificent beasts, but they had a duty that they needed to fulfill first and the Queen was not going to pay him in full if Cersei Lannister was still here in King's Landing by the time she arrived back.

"Lannister, move it," Bronn placed a hand on Tyrion's shoulder and move him physically so that the Imp would begin walking, not wanting to wait around any longer.

"Did you know about them?" Tyrion asked, his tone casual but with a heavier implication behind them, "You spent quite a bit of time with the Queen. Private time,"

"Now's not the time for this discussion Tyrion," Bronn sighed, pushing Tyrion and making their way out to the horses, "It's time we leave, no use dwelling here,"

"That's not an answer," Tyrion dragged his feet on the ground, trying to slow their movements.

Bronn rubbed his temples with his free hand, "No, Tyrion, I didn't know. Despite my apparent closeness to the Queen, she keeps quiet a few things closely to her chest. The existence of her dragon children being one of them,"

"All my life, I've read about the dragons that the Targaryens brought from Valyria. And here they are, centuries later, as if nothing has happened," Tyrion commented, his voice filled with a soft of wistfulness that confused Bronn and even himself.

"Yeah well, the Queen's full of surprises isn't she? Always got an ace up her sleeve and what not," Bronn muttered under his breath, fully making his way out.

In truth, Bronn was a little irritated. All that time spent with the Queen and she had never thought to privy him to this little tidbit of information. This was a game changer. It was extraordinary. And he had been privy to a lot of the plans that the Queen had—but it seemed she still had other works going on, plans that no one else knew about.

Save for maybe her Lord Commander and a few of her Queensguard. But maybe not even them…? Which shouldn't have been surprising to Bronn, but he was still irritated by the development. But he knew better than to say anything, to question the Queen was to ask to be burnt now by her dragons. Bronn was smart enough to know that.

Tyrion stood there for a moment longer, watching quietly as the dragons entered the city's vicinity, flying over the various parts of King's Landing, easily making their way over with every flap of their wings. The younger Lannister Lord couldn't help it, he was transfixed. And he stayed there for a little longer…until Cersei dragged him away and toward the horses as she got impatient sitting in the carriage.

…

 _The sound of the pitter patter of feet filled the halls of the Red Keep. The squealing and giggling of the Prince and the Princess could be heard as they tumbled through the halls, chasing after each other. The twins, having skipped their lessons for the day, were playing at Knights._

 _The Prince Rhaegar held a wooden sword in his hand, clashing it lightly against the wooden swords in his sister's. Princess Helaena countered easily, side-swiping Rhaegar before running ahead down the hall. Rhaegar gave a small shout but proceeded to chase after his sister._

 _"_ _Helaena!" Rhaegar called, his legs trying to keep up with the spring that Helaena had burst into, "Slow down!"_

 _Turning her head back slightly, the Princess laughed, "Catch up Rhaegar! You're so slow!" huffing slightly, Princess Helaena continued down her path, looking left and right and trying to find an escape route._

 _As she rounded the corner, the Princess ran into a mess of robes, stumbling backward and falling onto the ground._

 _"_ _I'll catch you yet Helaena!" Rhaegar called, as he rounded the corner as well, "You won't beat me!" the Prince stuttered to a halt as he noticed that his sister was on the ground._

 _The twins looked up only to see the stern expression of their father, although the King did have a slightly amused look in his eyes. The two children, only eight name days at the time, both scrambled to bow and curtsy to their father._

 _"_ _And here I thought my children were supposed to be at their lessons." Aerys observed the two, the twins looking guiltily between each other, "And does your mother know that you both have decided not to attend them today?"_

 _There's a look of panic that spreads across both their faces that causes Aerys to chuckle. The King, having only gained the throne recently due to the death of his father Jahaerys, was used to seeing his children more frequently than he did. But that didn't change the fact that he could still read every expression on their faces and know exactly where their minds were leaping._

 _"_ _Don't you worry, I won't tell her," Aerys assured, much to the relief of his children._

 _"_ _Thank you father," the twins answered dutifully, their heads bowed, though their eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them._

 _Aerys turned toward his son and heir, "Rhaegar, the minstrel is here—to continue your lyre lessons. I don't believe you want to miss those, do you?"_

 _The young Prince shook his head vehemently, "No father, I'll be on my way now," hastily giving his sword to one of the King's Kingsguard members, Rhaegar went off to see the minstrel who would be giving him lessons._

 _It had taken a battle and a half in order to convince the King to allow his son to learn the lyre, to take time out of the day in which he was supposed to be in the tiltyard. The young Prince wasn't going to waste his father's good mood and not attend the lessons he had fought so hard for._

 _Helaena, noticing the people's attention were on the Prince, began to step back up slowly, as if trying to creep out of the way without anyone noticing her. Her attempt did not go as well as she wanted it to._

 _"_ _And where do you think you're going?" Aerys had seen his daughter's movement out of the corner of his eye._

 _"_ _Nowhere!" Helaena straightened, planting her feet into the ground and trying to pose as innocent expression as possible, causing the knights standing behind his father to laugh._

 _"_ _Come along Helaena, I have another lesson for you as well," Aerys motioned for his daughter to follow him, which she did obediently. "What do you remember of the history of the Dragon's pit?"_

 _"_ _It's where all the dragons of the House Targaryen were housed," Helaena answered dutifully, having remember the place from her lessons,"_

 _The King slowed his pace so that Helaena could match his steps, taking her hand in his and guiding her down the hall, "Yes, it was. During the Golden Age of the House Targaryen, the Dragon pit was the place in which all the dragons of the family resided. The pit was built after Maegor the Cruel mounted on Balerion and destroyed the Great Sept of Remembrance,"_

 _"_ _And destroyed during the Dance of Dragons!" Helaena recited from rote memory—knowing the history of her family well. She had received lessons like this from both her grandfather and father before, always making sure to pay attention to her family's history, and the history of the Seven Kingdoms in general._

 _"_ _Yes," chuckling at his daughter's enthusiasm, Aerys continued with his lesson, "And do you know what the Dragon pit is now?_

 _"_ _It's in ruins now, isn't it father?" she asked, having already knowing the answer but wanting to see what her father would say._

 _"_ _Yes, yes it is. However, I have great hopes that you will be the one to restore it to its former glory, my little flame,"_

 _…_

Upon arrival to King's Landing, Helaena had every construction project sped up—using the men that had come from the various armies, that had yet to go home, to help. She needed everything to be done in order to accommodate for the new members of the family that everyone now knew about.

The questions and eyebrows that were raised when she had first ordered Summerhall and the Dragon pit to be reconstructed were not settled, everyone now seeing for themselves and having gained a clear understanding of the situation, speedily and readily obeyed the orders.

Both the Dragon pit and Summerhall had been destroyed and in disuse for decades if not centuries. At the height of Targaryen rule, they were the corner stones that represented the might and power of House Targaryen. Helaena was determined to bring them both back, to have a place where he dragons could rest comfortably and to have a place where she could escape to if necessary.

The Dragon pit was completely restored first and within a matter of weeks and very well guarded, Summerhall was still in the process, the pit being of the upmost priority because the dragons needed somewhere to be housed.

The Dragon pit, essentially a massive coliseum on top of Rhaeny's Hill, had probably not seen such attention since before the Dance of the Dragons. And though it used to house tens of dragons, now it would house three. Though the Queen was determined to expand this number as well.

Having taken every precaution, Helaena would not chance any person coming in and trying to slay her babies. Guards were constantly posted at all entrance points outside and inside the Dragon pit. The food that was brought to Helaena's children were a select, controlled population of livestock that had been proven to be disease and poison free.

Taking one of the two surviving members of House Tully, Edmure (though Catelyn would have done too, but she was in Winterfell and Helaena didn't want to deprive Ned of his wife), Helaena managed to hatch her third and last egg. Thus, the newest dragon would be the most vulnerable and needed the most guarding. The Dragon pit was absolutely essential.

Caraxes was a beautiful boy, his scales an iridescent white and his eyes the same purple that Helaena inherited. Helaena found herself particularly attached to Caraxes, always carrying him in her arms or letting him rest on her shoulders when he wasn't in the pit with his siblings. Together, all three dragons would rest in the Dragon pit during the night. And in the day, Meleys and Sunfyre would soar up in the sky and fly over the Dragon pit and sometimes King's Landing—sending all the people into awe.

Helaena would go visit them intermittently throughout the day. It would always bring her so much joy. But she also knew, that a group of petrified eggs were waiting for her in Aerys' personal vaults. During the night, Helaena had been pouring over all the ancient tomes that her family had left behind, trying to find a way in order to increase the dragon population. It was important to her, and all her plans, that those petrified eggs be hatched so that a new generation of dragons could be bred.

That's where she sat now, on the outer ring of the Dragon pit, watching from below as her dragons flew above her, circling each other and embracing the freedoms that could only come when one was airborne. Below, Caraxes called to his siblings, flapping his wings and attempting to carry his little body up as well. However, the dragon was still much too young for his wings to support him and thus was stuck on the ground.

"They're a magnificent sight," Ned observed, approaching the Queen from the side before sitting down next to her.

"Eddard Stark, finally found time to tear yourself away from Robert and grace me with your presence?" Helaena teased, turning her head to meet Ned face to face.

Ned shrugged, laughing lowly under his breath, "You know Robert, he can be persuasive,"

"He can also be a bit of a man-whore," Helaena quipped, giving Ned a meaningful look.

After learning of Jon Snow, Helaena was vigilantly watching Ned's action more when she would have otherwise been monitoring Robert. She didn't ever think that she would have to worry about Ned producing bastard that could complicate the order of ascension for the North—but here they were, one true born heir and one bastard in. Hopefully, baby Rob Stark didn't do the unfortunate thing of dying in the cold of Winterfell, or else Jon Snow would be the only contender for heir, should Ned not have another child by his true wife.

Eyes widening at the implication, Ned was quick to dissuade Helaena. "I didn't go with Robert to any of the brothels—the Lady Catelyn is already furious with me, I can't risk angering her more,"

Helaena laughed tinkled through the air, "Course not. You've already got one bastard on your hands. Can't afford another one," Ned flinched at the assessment but did not correct his foster sister.

"I could still legitimize him, if you want?" the offer had been on the table before, when Ned had first informed Helaena of the existence of Jon Snow. But the Lord of the North had declined then and declined yet again now.

"Like I said Helaena, no need to have my Lady wife any more furious with me than she already is," Ned confided, rubbing the back of his neck in both embarrassment and stress.

Impulsively, Helaena place a light kiss on Ned's cheek, "And there's also the fact that you gathered your men and marched on her Father's home for me, gauged her sister's eyes out to send as a little present to Lord Hoster Tully. Did I ever thank you for that?"

Taking Helaena by the hand, Ned kissed the back of it before intertwining their fingers and placing it in his lap, "You don't have to thank me at all. I would move the heavens for you Helaena, but please never put me in that situation again. I'm the one that has to live with Catelyn after all," the Northern Lord's face was stoic, betraying no emotion but Helaena could see in his eyes the warmth that made them shine.

"You have always been such a good friend to me, Ned. How does she treat you, your Lady wife?" she asked, genuinely curious about the dynamics of an arranged marriage, especially the one of someone she considered a brother, family.

Ned hesitated for a moment, thinking of his answer before speaking, "She is not what I would have chosen for myself, and I am not what she would have chosen. Catelyn held great admiration and adoration for Brandon,"

"Does she love you?"

"I don't know. After recent events, I would say not. But I never really held care for her and we were married so quickly that we were not able to grow to know each other before hand," Ned confessed, staring deeply at Helaena, willing her to understand where his heart truly lay. "Although, I have to say, there was really no reason to end a whole house. I may not love my wife but I did not wish her or her family ill will,"

"Hoster Tully and his family got what they deserved. An orphanage in Flea Bottom burned because of him," Helaena defended, knowing that what she did was right but still not wanting any one to know all the details.

"Did you manage to save any?" Ned knew how much Helaena valued the lives of children, especially the orphans.

She used to spend her time there, between lessons, whenever in King's Landing and not traveling the Seven Kingdoms. It was something that Ned had admired about the Princess at the time, that she would take time out of her day to attend to the matters of the small folk, seeing them just as worthy of time and effort as the Great Lords who demanded attention.

Helaena shrugged, "Maester Pycelle and his team managed to heal a handful fully, there are a few that will forever be scarred now but they will live. The orphanage is being rebuilt as we speak,"

"Hoster Tully will not be the last Lord who will try to defy you—perhaps using your dragons should be a last resort and not the first?" Ned advised sagely, tightening his grip of Helaena's hand for just a moment, trying to convey the fear that he felt at having more people come after Helaena should they think her a tyrant Queen.

"I gave him several chances to surrender. The man was stubborn and he wouldn't do it. He spat in my face and tried to rally all the Lords against me. I had no other choice," Helaena reasoned, squeezing Ned's hand back.

"Where is Robert right now anyway?" changing the subject abruptly, Ned followed Helaena's gaze up to Sunfyre and Meleys who were currently roasting several sheep that they had throw in the air before devouring the animals completely.

"Where are they even getting the sheep?" Ned laughed. "Robert is out hunting…again,"

"Of course he is, does that man do anything else but hunt and fuck?" Helaena shook her head and chuckled. "There's a flock in a nearby field just outside the King's gate, I paid the farmers off—told them to keep breeding sheep so that my dragons could eat," the Queen clarified.

"Prudent of you," Ned complimented.

Helaena hummed in agreement, "Speaking of your family…Will your lady wife and son be joining us? I'm under the impression that you will be here until after the Tourney at Pyke. Moreover, I have yet to meet either Robb nor Catelyn"

Wincing, Ned grimaced at the thought of Catelyn coming to King's Landing, "I don't think either of them will be coming this far South anytime soon. However, I am having Jon sent,"

"Jon? Your bastard? Interesting, and how does Catelyn Stark feel about this?" Helaena raised an eyebrow, an amused look painted on her face.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ned wasn't sure how to broach the topic of Jon and who his real parents were. Would it be smarter to wait? Until Jon was here and Helaena could see him for herself, even though he bore no resemblance to Rhaegar? Would she take Ned for his word? Would she be happy?

"Helaena there's a matter I have to discuss with you…"

"Your Majesty, the Small Council, they have convened a meeting and request your presence," Ser Gwayne Gaunt rushed up and bowed to his Queen and Ned.

"Have we received word from the Iron Bank?" Helaena inquired, releasing her hand from Ned's grasp and standing up fully to address the Knight.

"No my Queen—no raven has flown from Braavos with their seal," Ser Gwayne informed, moving his eyes back and forth between Ned and Helaena, his gaze curious.

"I see, best be off then," Helaena bent down and kissed Ned on the cheek once again. "We'll speak more later—be sure to let me know when Jon Snow arrives,"

Helaena took Ser Gwayne's outstretched hand and stepped down from the stands to the sandy pit, making her way out with an arm around the Knight's. Ned watched the pair leave, sighing to himself, wondering when he would get the courage again to tell Helaena the truth.

…

Jaime knocked tentatively on the door of his Father's chambers. The Hand of the Queen was curt on a good day, utterly beastly if disturbed during what he considered his important work hours. The Kingslayer had learned his lesson early on in life to never disturb his father when the man was working. However, in this case, with the news Jaime had, even Tywin Lannister would have to set aside his work to hear it.

"Come in," came the call behind the door.

Pushing open the door, Jaime quickly walked in only to spy Tywin sitting behind his desk and working fervently on a letter that seemed to absorb all his attentions.

Jaime cleared his throat, trying to catch Tywin's attentions, "Father, I need to speak with you,"

"Be quick about it Jaime, I have a great many important matters to attend to," Tywin replied, still scribbling away furiously at the piece of parchment beneath his hand.

"Father," Jaime shifted nervously on his feet. The Kingslayer didn't know how to continue from then, his throat tightening and his voice disappearing, an awkward silence descended upon the room.

"Do stop wasting my time Jaime, if you don't have anything important to say there are greater matters that require my attention," Tywin commented, vexation heavy in his voice.

"Father," Jaime began again, trying to gain confidence and taking a deep breath, thinking of Helaena and the upcoming Tourney at Pyke. "I am leaving the Queensguard, Father, and I want you to reinstate me as your heir,"

Tywin Lannister stilled, not sure if he had just heard what he believed he just heard. Looking up, Tywin saw the look of utter anxiety that filled Jaime's usual apathetic expression. Setting his quill down, Tywin folded his hands across his lap and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm sorry Jaime, in my old age I have become hard of hearing. Please, say that again,"

Jaime rolled his eyes and quickly reiterated his previous statement: "I am leaving the Queensguard and I want you to reinstate me as heir,"

"While I am indisputably surprised and dare I say happy about this turn of events, what has brought this on?" Tywin asked, curious as to what reason Jaime would give. Though, the Hand suspected it had to do with a certain Targaryen.

"Why does there need to be a reason other than the fact that I no longer want to be in the Queensguard?" though Jaime believed he had uttered this statement convincingly, Tywin could see right through his son and was almost offended that Jaime thought he could lie to him successfully.

"Don't play your games Jaime. Tell me the reason or I will make sure you are never named my heir—leaving the Queensguard or not," it was a lie, and Jaime knew that, but the Kingslayer also knew that his father was not someone to trifle with.

"I want to enter the Tourney that will take place at Pyke…and only eligible bachelors can participate," Jaime admitted quietly, looking anywhere but directly into Tywin's eyes.

"So it's the Queen you're after," Tywin sat back, a contemplative look on his face. "There's more ambition in you than I originally thought then, if your goal is to become Prince Consort,"

"I want to marry her," Jaime corrected, unhappy with the conclusion that Tywin had come up with because what if that's what Helaena thought? That he wanted to become Prince Consort?

Jaime shook himself, Helaena was the one who asked him to participate in the Tourney…but he's the one who accepted…the thoughts were whirring in Jaime's head and managing to give him a headache so he cast it aside for the moment.

"Who is Queen," Tywin pointed out. "What makes you so sure you will win? Why not stay in the Queensguard, instead of risking your position for a Tourney that you may not be the champion of?"

Jaime scowled, "Here I thought you would be ecstatic that I want to leave and now you're trying to convince me to stay?"

"In your current position you have the Queen's ear, should you lose the Tourney, you lose your place amongst the Queensguard and she will have a husband that will consume all her time. What will you do then Jaime? What will our family do then? She barely listens to me as it is, Cersei's off to Storm's End having not secured the friendship of the Queen- I need someone on the inside who has Queen Helaena's ear to relay my advice and you are currently the best option," the reasoning was sound and incredibly on character for Tywin Lannister.

Having the ear of the Queen and making sure she was making the decisions he believed were more sensible was more important to the Hand than getting his eldest son back as heir. At the end of the day, Helaena of House Targaryen had more power in her little finger than most Houses did. If, gods forbid, that Jaime lose the Tourney at Pyke—the Lannister influence that was slowly making its way back into the Crown would disappear. Tywin was self aware enough to know that alone, he could not control Helaena.

"Have more faith in your eldest son, Father," Jaime smirked, trying to keep his sense of bravado up and at least fool his father and himself into thinking that he was confident in his win.

"You're going to be competing against all the best in the land. There are sons who are heirs to our vassal houses that are also competing," Tywin gave a meaningful look to Jaime.

"What does that matter? I can beat them all," confidence filled Jaime's voice, his chest puffing out in pride at his abilities.

Tywin sighed and raised an eyebrow. "Even Addam Marbrand?" the news is a shock to Jaime.

Lord Addam Marbrand was the eldest son of Lord Damon Marbrand, one of Jaime's closest friends growing up as a child in Casterly Rock (as he visited Ashemark quite frequently) and one of the only knights not in the Queensguard to have beaten Jaime ever. Addam was exceptionally skilled, charming, and from a House with a good reputation and decent holdings. It would be an advantageous marriage, certainly not the most advantageous, but not a prospect that the Queen could dismiss outright.

"And he is only one of the many heirs that are skilled enough to put up competition for the Queen's Hand. Not to mention Willas Tyrell, who the Queen is allowing to bypass the Tourney on account of his leg," Tywin continued, each bit of information causing Jaime's face to turn more and more sour.

"Willas Tyrell," Jaime spat the name in loathing, remembering the time when he had to escort Helaena to have tea with the eldest Tyrell son. "The Queen can barely stand speaking to him—Willas is utterly boring!" Jaime didn't understand why Helaena was allowing Willas to be an exception. He had seen them interact and saw unfavorable Helaena's reaction to Willas was.

Tywin rolled his eyes, "He's also Mace Tyrell's heir and the future Warden of the South. The Reach is the second richest Kingdom after the Westerlands and when our gold mines run dry, the gods forbid that be anytime soon, they will be the richest. It's practical of the Queen to keep Willas in the running to be her suitor,"

"Willas Tyrell won't be a problem," Jaime asserted confidently. Though the Kingslayer felt doubt creep in the back of his mind. But he resolved that all he needed to do was talk to Helaena and she would surely tell him the truth and what her intentions are.

Raising an eyebrow, Tywin took a long drink from his goblet, preparing himself mentally for all that was too come, "If you are sure Jaime, then I will gladly name you my heir once again,"

The Father and Son bid each other goodbye before Jaime exited Tywin's chambers. It was only after Jaime had left and shut the door tightly that Tywin placed his forehead against the cool wood of the desk below him. Jaime Lannister was good at quite a few things but dissecting the actions of the major players of the Game of Thrones, well, Tywin's eldest son still had a lot to learn.

Tywin sat up and rolled his shoulders back, having an inkling at just what the Queen was attempting to do. He would need to be as prepared as possible and that meant meeting with Olenna Tyrell, and soon.

…

 _Alia,_

 _My mother sounds incredibly distressed, please give her a generous helping of milk of poppy—enough to last for a few days so that she may regain her constitution. I have been wanting to meet my dearest sister so if you could order a ship, unmarked so as to not gain unwanted attention, I would like you to bring my whole family to Dragonstone. They will stay there until I can make other arrangements._

 _With the current climate, it would be prudent to keep their arrival and stay just between family. The only outsiders who are permitted to know would be you and the group of people that are currently with you that I hired to attend to my family and Falyse Stokeworth who is currently watching over Dragonstone in my stead._

 _Safest Journeys and may the winds guide you._

 _Helaena of House Targaryen, Second of her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm_

 _Lady Stokeworth,_

 _There are a few packages that will arrive from Essos that I will need you to attend to. Because this is of a private nature and extremely personal to me, I expect your full discretion and the discretion of your staff. Should I hear news about the…packages…at all once they arrive to Dragonstone I will have the heads of all your staff and you may meet my dragons personally._

 _Do I make myself clear? I hope I have. I have done you a great honor by allowing you to look over my family's home, do me the same honor by keeping my privacy._

 _I look forward to hearing from you and keep me updated on the…state…of my packages._

 _Helaena of House Targaryen, Second of her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm_

…

Bronn grumbled from his place on top of his steed, not particularly happy that he was escorting an uppity, spoiled high-born lady to Storm's End. Stannis Baratheon, after the burning of Riverrun, had traveled with the Queen's party up until a certain point and then returned back to the Stormlands while Robert and Renly had stayed with the Queen's party and went all the way back to King's Landing. That left Cersei at the Capital and waiting to travel to meet her soon to be husband.

When Helaena had informed him of his new job, Bronn had been decidedly unhappy. Who in the world wanted to be a glorified babysitter to someone as certifiably unpleasant as Cersei Lannister? However, Helaena had gifted him with a pouch full of Gold Dragons and a promise that when the 4 months were up, he would be officially betrothed to Lady Lollys Stokeworth. And Helaena was always one to fulfill her promises and thus Bronn left his Queen reluctantly.

"Tell me something Imp, what on Earth possessed you to come and escort your banshee of a sister to Storm's End?" Bronn inquired.

Over the past few days the two men had built up a friendly and familiar rapport. The party that accompanied Cersei to Storm's End was not large and with Jaime's declaration that he would be leaving the Queensguard and resuming his role as heir, Tyrion had found himself with decidedly more time on his hands and less need to attend the lessons that his father had required before. The news had still not been broken to Cersei, who had no idea of her twin's intentions and Tyrion had cackled internally at the idea of being the one to tell her.

"I've made my way through all the brothels in the Westerlands, made my way through most of the brothels in the Crownlands…thought I'd check the Stormlands off my list before heading North to piss off the wall," Tyrion answered jadedly, his pony riding a few steps behind Bronn.

"Not a bad way to go about life," Bronn admitted, while life as a smaller Lord would be nice, the freedom to travel and do what he wanted also beckoned Bronn.

But the ability to do anything that he wanted, meant that he needed enough Gold Dragons at his disposal and Bronn was aware of that. Which was way he had agreed to become a minor Lord—the prospect of being his own man and in charge of a profitable estate that could fund his lifestyle was appealing.

"How much longer will I have to sit in this carriage?" Cersei complained from the open window, her curtains drawn back and glaring down Bronn and Tyrion from where she sat comfortably.

"Another day's ride my Lady," came Bronn's cheeky response, turning away so that Tyrion could see him roll his eyes at Cersei's antics.

The woman had a been a nightmare for the better part of the journey. Always needing to stop every few hours. Always needing to be waited on hand and foot by her handmaidens. And not even a very good conversationalist, as Bronn had found out, at least not to supposed minor Lords whom she didn't care about or could find something to get out of. Cersei Lannister was a decidedly unpleasant person and Bronn couldn't wait to get back to King's Landing.

"Well, Stannis Baratheon is going to have a lot on his hands, being made to marry that shrew," Bronn commented, not entirely mean-spiritedly, after all, he felt sorry for the second Baratheon son.

"That I have no doubts on. The only person my dear sister would have submitted to would have been the Mad King and Rhaegar Targaryen, but they are both dead so I guess now we're all doomed," Tyrion joked.

"That's rather pessimistic of you—you never know maybe Stannis Baratheon and Cersei Lannister will end up being a true love match,"

Bronn and Tyrion met eyes and both burst into laughter at the absurd thought. Stannis Baratheon, boring yet calculating, Cersei Lannister, a shrew and thinking herself far smarter than she actually was…yes there were bound to be fireworks…and not the good kind.

…

Viserys looked around happily, skipping from one room to another, the stone walls of Dragonstone familiar and welcoming. The young Prince was happy to be back in Westeros, while he would have been far more contented with the Keep, Dragonstone was a good substitute. He had been ecstatic when the letter from Helaena had arrived, saying that they could come home and Viserys couldn't wait to see the rest of his family.

Rhaella was still in a deep sleep, Alia the handmaiden, had told Viserys that she was very sick and so the young Prince solemnly watched as everyday they fed his mother milk of poppy and kept her asleep while they were on the boat and even now, at Dragonstone.

The young Prince did not question the handmaidens as Viserys believed them to be much more knowledgeable about these sorts of things and so he did not find the situation even remotely suspicious at all.

Danaerys was no fun, at least in Viserys' opinion. She didn't do anything but cry and sleep, which wasn't very entertaining for the young Prince. And so Viserys had taken to exploring all around Dragonstone, reestablishing himself in his rooms, and ordering the servants to do as he bid—as he was used to before having to leave for Essos.

"You, handmaiden, come," Viserys ordered from the perch of his bed.

The handmaiden, Sasha, who had been walking by in order to do her daily chores, stopped and approached the young Prince before going into a deep curtsey.

"How may I assist you, my Prince?" Sasha's voice, while sweet and beseeching, was also tinged with impatience.

The young Prince had been stopping and ordering her about all day, interrupting the work she needed to get done unless she wanted to be reprimanded by Lady Stokeworth.

"I need you to help me write a letter! To my sister!" Viserys commanded imperiously, crossing his arms and tilting his chin up in an impression of superiority.

Sasha shook her head—the request a familiar one as Prince Viserys had already requested this multiple times. "I'm sorry my Prince, but no letters are to come or leave from Dragonstone unless expressly allowed by Lady Stokeworth,"

"Why not?" the young Prince demanded. Though he had demanded this multiple time and been rejected multiple times, Viserys still felt the need for an explanation every single time.

"It's a matter of …. security?" the handmaiden attempted to explain, unsure of how to word that his dear sister, Queen Helaena, didn't want anyone to know that they were back in the Seven Kingdoms, not after declaring them to be exiled. She hoped alluding to the rebellion this time would stop the young Prince from asking more questions.

"Oh," Viserys deflated a little, more mature than his age showed him to be and knowing the dangers that were currently going on, or at least the dangers his mother had made him aware of. "Is the fighting still going on?"

The handmaiden nodded eagerly, ready to finish this conversation, "Yes my Prince and your sister is very worried for your safety as you are her most beloved little brother,"

"That's true," Viserys agreed. "You may leave then," the young Prince dismissed the girl and went about his brooding.

Viserys sighed before laying flat on his bed, staring blanking up at the ceiling. The young Prince wasn't sure why his Father couldn't just vanquish all the enemies, or make them bend the knee. They were Targaryens after all, Viserys thought, it was their birthright to rule.

For these people, to believe that they were worthy of the Iron Throne, it was preposterous for Viserys to even contemplate, so deeply ingrained was his House loyalty and sense of superiority.

And one day, Viserys thought happily, he might just be King.

…

"Is the problem contained?" Tywin walked the Black Cells, having ordered all those who were living to be transported there.

"We caught as many of them as we could, Tywin," Kevan walked next to his brother, surveying the Black Cells as he had never spent a considerable amount of time down in them, "There hasn't been anymore spotted since the Queen's arrival back to the Keep,"

"And all the living ones? How advanced are there illnesses?" Tywin Lannister had been trying his best to keep this as hushed as possible.

While the Queen dealt with the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms, Tywin was left with the day to day tasks of running King's Landing. He was hoping not having to risk the Queen's ire by directing her attention away from hunting traitors to having to deal with a potentially deadly outbreak within her own home. Well, as long as he kept it contained that is.

"Advanced, many of them are almost completely stone,"

Tywin nodded, "We only need a couple of them. How many are there in total?"

"Ten," Kevan revealed, "Tywin, what do you need them for?"

Considering his answer for a moment, Tywin decided to reveal his plan to his brother, "There is no cure for the stone flesh. Not that any one knows of. It's a painful way to die and one may never know when you need something along the lines of this,"

"As what? A form of punishment? That's cruel Tywin, even for you," the younger Lannister couldn't fathom as to why his brother would want to keep stone men around just to punish others later. It was a bad way to go about things and on the off chance one of them escaped? There would be chaos and an outbreak.

Kevan Lannister had followed his elder brother through many of the man's wildest schemes. Tywin Lannister, after all, was renowned for his intellect and cunning, especially in terms of the great game. However, to use people, with a deadly illness that could send all the lands crashing down, as a means of punishment, it was just on the edge of what Kevan could handle.

"Enemies surround the capital now, we've seen it. Varys reports whispers from some of the lesser Houses, the Iron Bank breathes down both the necks of House Lannister and the Crown, despite the Queen's reassurances. Nothing is secure right now and we need every level and measure of protection," the confidence that radiated in Tywin's tone was hard to deny but Kevan was still pretty skeptical.

"And if one of them breaks out? Causes an epidemic?" it was a real worry and Kevan wasn't sure that Tywin was completely thinking this one through.

It was obvious that Tywin wanted a way to ensure answers and loyalty when the time came. However, the Queen would be furious should she ever find out that not only was her Hand keeping secrets, but he was keeping a potentially deadly illness within the walls of the Red Keep.

Tywin shrugged, "Than we lose a few more of the small folk—there are too many of them to begin with anyway,"

The two men approached the cell that the stone men were being held in. Opening the door, the Lannisters were severely disgusted at what they saw.

"Do we tell the Queen?" Kevan asks, eyes unable to tear away from the sight before him.

Tywin shakes his head, "The Queen has enough to think of right now. As long as this issue is contained, she need not know it even occurred."

…

With Caraxes curled around her neck, Helaena made her way through the halls of the Keep. Meleys and Sunfyre were hunting, flying above King's Landing again, leaving their little brother in the Dragon pit. Taking pity upon the small dragon, Helaena had taken him to all the meetings she had throughout the day, allowing him to rest on her shoulders and in her arms.

The look of amazement and fear in the eyes of all the Lords and Ladies of the Court made Helaena want to laugh. But the Queen resisted the urge. Instead, a feeling of exhaustion was starting to settle again in Helaena's bones. There was so much to attend to as Queen and she couldn't remember when was the last time she had a decent night's sleep.

Each day was filled with audiences with people throughout the Seven Kingdoms, meetings with her Small Council, the Night's Watch, her Master of War and Lord Commander as well as various other Lords who all felt they needed to voice their concerns to their Queen. Then it was a matter of her own personal research, as well as discussions with her Hand and the Master of Coin about finances, imports and exports. All of it was enough to give Helaena a severe migraine.

Rounding the corner, Helaena ran into the person she had been seeking, her Master of Laws.

"Jon Arryn, just the man I was looking for!" Helaena exclaimed, startling Caraxes for a moment before the dragon settled himself and buried his face deeper into Helaena's neck.

Jon bowed, attempting to keep himself from staring at the dragon wrapped around his Queen, "My Queen, how may I offer assistance,"

"Let us go to a more private room, there is an important matter that I would like to speak with you about," Helaena motioned for Jon to follow her.

Together the pair, and Ser Gerold who was her guard for the evening, made their way to Helaena's solar. Once they arrived, Helaena settled in one of the chairs and beckoned Jon to sit across from her.

"How are you Lord Arryn? How does the Vale fare?" Leaning in, Helaena was genuinely interested in what her foster father had to say.

"They are fine. There were no casualties from the Burning of Riverrun and all my men are back at the Vale," Jon informed his Queen, the woman he stilled sometimes viewed as the little girl he would balance on his shoulders when they were both younger. It was hard to see her as an adult, let alone a Queen who had rode out to war with her men no more than a fortnight ago.

Helaena nodded, pleased with the news that there were not any lives lost, at least for their side, "That's good. And who is currently running the daily tasks now that you are here as my Master of Laws?"

"I have a few of the Lords of the Lesser Houses that have sworn fealty to me assemble a council and they are currently overseeing the daily affairs. I get letters frequently updating me," Jon replied nonplussed.

"I see. Jon, there's a matter I would like to address," Helaena began and at the curious look on her Master of Laws' face, continued.

"You are my Master of Laws. All the rules that govern Westeros are under your purview. Tell me, what is the law on the matter of sovereignty?" the Queen asks, "If a Queen wanted to rule, on her own,"

Jon's eyes widened, startled, "Helaena, are you suggesting…?"

"I only want to know the possibility—in case certain circumstances make it so that the person who wins the Tourney at Pyke is…unsuitable for the throne," remaining quite tight-lipped about her plans, Helaena wanted to see what Jon Arryn would say first.

"I will have to consult the books that were provided to me…however, my Queen, you must think of the Houses you will alienate should you not take a husband," Jon advised, the Master of Laws not really seeing why the Queen wouldn't want to get married.

Helaena shrugged, "I believe avenues would open further for me, actually. But, it is completely up to what you discover Lord Jon Arryn,"

Jon nodded, "I will see what I can find, my Queen," got up to leave, set to complete the task that Helaena had just charged him with.

"Another thing, Jon," Helaena stopped the man from leaving.

"Yes, my Queen," turning back around, Jon awaited the next words that Helaena would say.

"You have no wife and thus no heir to the Vale. I want to remedy that," the Queen pushed forward bluntly and without any thought of her foster father's feelings. This was something that needed to be done after all.

"My Queen, is this an appropriate time to speak of this? There are still greater matters that need to be dealt with," Jon reasoned, unsure of why the Queen was bringing up the fact that he wasn't married.

"You have no heir Jon, should anything happen to you, your seat would go to a vassal house that may not be as loyal to me as you are—you can see my worry?" Helaena urged, willing Jon to understand.

Jon looked contemplative before he assented to the issue, "Who did you have in mind, my Queen" it was almost no use arguing to Helaena once she had an idea in mind.

The Queen would fulfill it with or without permission. This was a curtesy, allowing Jon to find out before she announced it before the whole Court. To an extent, Jon Arryn knew that; however, that didn't stop him from wanting to object to this idea. But the Master of Laws kept his mouth shut, wanting to hear what Helaena had to say first.

"Margery Tyrell. She is young, of child bearing years, and can supply you with an impressive dowry given the wealth of the Reach," Helaena stated simply.

"And do you know anything of her person? This woman that you would have me marry," Jon said wryly.

"She's smart, smarter than most ladies her age. Cultured, well versed in multiple areas of expertise that any future Lady wife is supposed to be versed in. And she's also beautiful. You could do far worse Jon," Helaena smiled gently at her foster father, "Moreover, the Vale cannot be without a stable, ruling hand for so long. At the very least, if you have a lady wife, she can stay there to run the household when you are here,"

"Is there any point in arguing with you?" sighing, Jon rubbed his forehead.

"No, not really," Helaena stood and walked over to the still seated Jon, taking his hands in hers. "You'll thank me for this Jon, and when you have little sons and daughters running around and giving you headaches in the Vale, you may curse my name but you will also be thankful,"

Jon looked skeptical. "Will I?"

"Oh yes, and just wait until you meet her. I have heard she is particularly pleasant, much better than Cersei or Falyse,"

"And who did you hear this from?" Jon scoffed, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it anyway.

Helaena laughed pleasantly, her eyes warm. "Well Willas, of course,"

The two met eyes, foster father to foster daughter, understanding passing between the two. She had bartered Jon's marriage to Margery for something with House Tyrell. Obviously, besides Lord Arryn finally getting a Lady Arryn, the Queen was receiving something from the family for a good match for their daughter.

"It'll be a beautiful wedding, I'll make sure of it," Helaena added, without really having too, but feeling the need to do so, if to somehow assure Jon before he met Margery.

The Queen was sure he would be captivated. From what Willas had described, men in general had trouble containing the urge to love the eldest Tyrell daughter. Helaena rolled her eyes internally, she didn't care how entrancing Margery Tyrell could be, she just needed to be a good wife to Jon and bear him plenty of little children, or Helaena would have her head. Helaena needed her Master of Laws here, in the Capital, but she also needed the Vale.

And what better way to secure it but to have Lord Jon Arryn married off with a pretty little lady and having an heir on the way.

Well, also because the Tyrells, mostly Olenna, made an offer that the Queen would find herself stupid to refuse.

….

Robert Baratheon took a deep breath, breathing in the scents of the forest. Having taken down a boar with the rest of his hunting party, the Lord of the Stormlands was taking a second to just soak in the moment.

Looking up through the leaves and watching as the rays of sun shined through, Robert couldn't help but think of Lyanna. How much the Stark woman would have loved to have gone hunting on this perfect day. The Summer was long, persistent, and the beautiful weather out in the woods outside the Crownlands could make any Northern man weep.

A piercing pain stabbed at Robert's heart whenever he thought of Lyanna. They would have been married by now, she could have been carrying his child—maybe even the second one by now. Running a tired hand down his face, Robert thought of all the possible futures he had imagined with the woman he loved.

Despite being an utter rake, Robert Baratheon knew he would have cast aside any high-born lady, handmaiden, or whore for just one more moment with Lyanna—where he could see her face and hear her voice.

Eyes watering, Robert clenched his fist and took a painful swallow that made its way slowly through his throat. It seemed that Lyanna Stark and he were not meant to be together this life. Looking at the lake in front of him, Robert found the water entrancing.

Perhaps in another life they would meet again…

Stepping toward the lake, Robert got close enough to allow the water to touch his feet.

Cover his knees.

Reach his waist.

There were shouts in the back. But Robert Baratheon was deaf to the world. His thoughts firmly with the dark-haired beauty who had left the world far too early.


End file.
